


The Society of Arcane Heroes

by AuthorLoremIpsum



Category: The Glass Scientists (Webcomic)
Genre: AU, Gen, super hero AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2019-01-09 05:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 58,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12269595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuthorLoremIpsum/pseuds/AuthorLoremIpsum
Summary: Heros don't always have superpowers, it's just cooler when they do. The problem with superpowers, however, is that they turn you into a beacon for science and prejudice. So where would a strapping young hero go to learn how to be a savior in the eye of the public? Well, the Society of Arcane Heros is always accepting new applicants.Though, the Nova Corp. might have a few things to say about that...





	1. Nights Like These

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyde is on patrol for the night and finds a young, spooked hero in need of a little assistance.

Nights like these, one expected it to be storming violently, complete with crashing thunder and flashes of gorgeous lightning. However it was clearer than glass tonight, a shame as lightning would've been wonderfully dramatic.

Seated atop some random building, humming to himself, was a figured dressed in green, glowing faintly as if illuminated by a hidden source. If one were to get close, they would find out that this humming was in fact a voice which he was listening to intently.

_"Keep it low tonight Hyde, police are on edge cuz some kid with shapeshifting powers has been, well, doing our job for us."_

"Which is why I'm here to find him! You worry too much Tailor," Hyde said, nonchalantly, running a hand through short, wild hair that was an odd, grey-blonde color. He wore a green mask, the left lense of which was mirrored, hiding his eye, and the right was clear. His suit was skin tight, like a diving suit in theme and design, sans for sturdy boots and gloves that looked made of some thick rubber. A grey flask was emblazoned on his chest, "filled" with a teal liquid.

Below on the street, there came a shout of fear, and Hyde looked down lazily to watch. A young woman, homeless by the looks of it, was being chased by three men armed with guns and knives. She held a parcel to her chest and was running like hell was on her tail, until a figure jumped into the road ahead of her.

It looked like a kid, a small and skinny one at that, but one couldn't be sure because less than a second later a massive brown-furred wolf stood between the woman and her chasers. The gang members stopped short, unsure whether or not to shoot. One of them flanked left and was cut off by sharp teeth snapping shut barely a foot in front of him.

With the wolf blocking their path, allowing the woman to escape down another alley and vanish, they were left standing in the street, angry and armed. One of the thugs cussed and raised his gun, firing at the wolf. The wolf tried to dodge, and succeeded in only getting nicked by the bullet. It had been trying to be intimidating, but the gunshot made it nervous, backing up in fear, ears pressed back, still trying to growl.

Hyde grinned, "Play time."

And he rolled off the side of the rooftop, and onto his feet, running horizontally down the building's front and jumping with a roll onto the street with gymnast precision. One of the thugs gave a shout, turning and firing at Hyde, who easily dodged and ran up to them.

The vigilante was at least five inches shorter than the man he was facing, but this allowed him to dodge the first punch thrown and then easily deliver a right hook into the man's stomach. His size was clearly an illusion of his strength, because the blow knocked the air out of the thug and tossed him back onto the road, gun skittering to the side.

One came at him with a knife, and ended up with a broken wrist. The other kept his distance, instead choosing to fire at the wolf, landing a shot in its side and knocking it over, whimpering in pain. Hyde hesitated, looking towards the wolf with concern as the thugs scrambled to their feet.

But they were running, and by the time they came back, Hyde and his new friend would be gone.

Hyde knelt beside the wolf that was definitely human and said: "Easy big fella, I'm here to help you." The wolf whimpered, and didn't change back. "Course, if I'm gonna help you, I need you to change back to your default form okay? None of this fur and teeth nonsense, I need a human." They still looked at him fearfully, but slowly their form began to melt into that of a thin, young person.

They looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes, "Hyde, you're gonna kill me aren't you?"

"Now why the hell would I do that?" he asked, sounding offended as he helped them sit up, taking note of the hoodie and jeans they'd patched to make a "suit". A simple, cross-stitch moon was sewn onto the jacket, a symbol.

"When vigilantes come into your territory, they vanish!" the kid said, eyes wide. Hyde blinked and laughed, "Is that the rumor? Well, if you're up for it, I can show you where they vanish to."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't kill anyone, and they're all still here." He snickered, "Don't tell me you haven't heard about Vanish and Ninjabread down by the Thames?"

"I, I have. Did, did you send them there?"

"Yeah I did. Now, you feeling okay? You did kind of get shot." They brushed off his concern and start to stand, "I'm fine, really, wounds heal when I shift back and- AGH!" Their hands went to their side, where blood was seeping through their hoodie.

Hyde swore, standing fast with them, "Okay, we need to get you back to base fast, before you bleed out."

"Base?" they repeated, barely staying upright with the vigilante's help. He nodded, reflective mask lense winking through sand colored bangs, "Aye, you really think I protect this whole city on my own?"

 _"Is that a pick up I'm hearing?"_ buzzed a voice in Hyde's ear. He rolled his eyes, the stranger looking puzzled at the sound. "Send us a ride Tailor, and fast, kid's hurt bad."

_"What's their name? So I can start their file."_

"What is your name beast-kid? For real name, not your moniker." They look away and shrug, "Jasper, Jasper Kaylock."

There was the sound of a revving engine from down the road and Hyde grinned. "Well Jasper, welcome to the Society." A sleek looking black car, much like a limo that had been put into photoshop, had its width reduced, and then printed back into existence, and it cruised to stop in front of them, the doors popping open on both sides. Jasper clung to Hyde as they made their way to the side of the car, the younger being placed safely in the passenger seat before Hyde climbed into the driver's side.

He tugged off his mask and shut the door, revealing a whole and undamaged eye under the second, reflective lense that so often hid his left. Jasper stared at the undamaged eye, noting how it was a deep reddish brown while the other was a teal blue, both brighter than any eyes he'd seen before. Hyde glanced at Jasper, "Take off your hoodie, wad it up, and keep pressure on the wound, we'll be at base soon and we'll fix you up,"

"Your eye, it's okay? And, familiar," Jasper said, doing as he was told and wincing as the wound in his side stung violently. Hyde laughed, "Of course! You'll find out once we're back, but yeah, my eye's fine." As he started to drive, Hyde tossed Jasper his mask, "Check it, the reflective lense is holographic, so I can get GPS and stuff on the fly."

"Why do you hide your eye though?" Hyde glanced at him and grinned, "Like I said, you'll find out, once we're around our people."

"Our people? You mean, other superhumans?"

"Who else? Like, it'd be cool if we had cyborgs and aliens and such, but no there's just us freaks." Again Hyde laughed, and Jasper, despite the blood soaking into his hoodie and the constant stinging pain in his side, smiled a little.

"Y'know, I wanted to be just like you, and you're nothing like what the news says you are," Jasper explained in a soft, worried voice. He saw a bit of a blush creep into Hyde's cheeks, "Whoah seriously? Let me tell you right now kid, I'm not a good example to follow, I'm an idiot."

"You? An idiot? But you're London's hero," Jasper said, frowning. "I-I mean, not like that means much considering the police force wants you arrested. It's, really only the small people, like me, who think you're a hero."

Again Hyde looked at him, frowning a little, "Someone's gotta look out for the small people, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to do I guess." Jasper raised a hand, looking at the blood staining it, "Guess I didn't do so well."

"You're a beginner, no one's perfect on the first go unless they've been training their whole life for it. And trust me, those freaks are few and far between."

"I guess." Jasper yelped in surprise as the car swerved hard to the side, turning down an unfamiliar street along the river. Ahead, far ahead, sat warehouses meant for cargo and workers, all dark and quiet in the middle of the night. Jasper hissed in pain, pressing his hoodie tighter against the gunshot wound.

"Hang in there kid, we're almost there," Hyde said, glancing over again as they drove into the shipyard. Jasper looked out the window, searching for a warehouse that was different from the others, some indicator that it might be a secret super-hero base, and was sorely disappointed when they pulled into an ordinary one that was unremarkable and empty.

"This, is base?" he asked in confusion, looking to Hyde. He yelped in surprise again to see the vigilante surrounded by a gentle, teal light. With wide eyes, Jasper watched the light fade and the individual sitting their adjusted his noticeably taller and thinner, with neater brown hair to the side, covering his teal eye. "Oh my god, you're, you're-"

"Doctor Henry Jekyll? Scientist, millionaire and vigilante supporter?" he answered, smiling warmly, "In fact I am. And like I said, welcome to The Society."

The doctor, now wearing a green jumpsuit that looked a little too tight for him, stepped out of the car and into the dark warehouse. Jasper watched him approach one of the steel beams and flick open what looked like a fuse box, putting his face close to it. There was a red flash and the doors behind them began to slide closed, much to Jasper's concern. He huddled back in the seat, wishing he had the energy to turn into a mouse or something as a way to hide, watching fearfully as a glowing white seam appeared in the ground around the car.

Jekyll strode back to the car and pulled open Jasper's door as they began to descend into a very brightly lit room, the ceiling sealing up behind them and once again hiding the elevator. Jasper slowly stood, swaying as sudden dizziness filled his mind and leaning heavily on Jekyll, who muttered something of concern. "Robert, meet us in the Hub, I'm not sure how much longer this kid's gonna stay on his feet."

A voice from somewhere in the room said: _"Oh sure, couldn't have told me that ten minutes ago. Where did they get shot even?"_

"Abdomen, just to the right of their stomach I think," Jekyll answered, looking under Jasper's bloodied hoodie at the bullet wound. "No exit wound, it might still be in there."

_"I'll get Tweedy down here too, he'll magnet the bullet out."_

"Tweedy?" Jasper repeated, putting a head to his forehead as Jekyll began to lead him towards a door. "Who, whoz Tweety?"

"Perhaps you might know him better as Shocker," Jekyll answered, pulling off a glove with his teeth and putting his palm to a scanner beside the door. As it slid open, it revealed not only a large room filled with all manner of gadgets, weaponry, uniforms and computers, but also people. Most of them wore unassuming clothes, but some had costumes of bold and vibrant colors, complete with odd hats.

Had he been more awake, Jasper would've recognized heroes from the news and YouTube, like the incredible Flytrap, whose ability to control plants kept a building from collapsing just long enough for the police to evacuate. Or perhaps Decompression, who snuck onto a ship and stopped a leak long enough for it to pull into shallower waters where he disappeared without a trace. Maybe he would've spotted Cryptid, the older woman with powers like his, however only partial and more fantastic.

There was a video of her breathing fire

Jasper chuckled weakly as he stumbled down the stairs in Jekyll's arms, "No capes huh?"

"Capes are almost as dangerous as criminals!" Jekyll commented, looping one of Jasper's arms over his shoulders as they reached the ground below.

Two people came running over, a man with dark skin, wavy brown hair, freckles, a white shirt, and a blue fanny pack and another gentleman with pale skin, black hair that stuck out in every direction, a scar over one eye and wearing a black vest. In his muddled thoughts, Jasper was certain he recognized both of them, but couldn't for the life of him place where they were from.

"How much blood has he lost?" asked Jekyll, setting Jasper down on the bottom step of the stairs as the newcomers knelt nearby. The one with the dark skin gently took Jasper's face, peering into his eyes and frowning. "A lot, I'm guessing internal bleeding from wherever that bullet has gone. Tweedy, find it and get it out of there before it rips him up any more."

The man with the scar, Tweedy, nodded with a small smirk, rolling up his sleeves. He rubbed his hands together, much like one would do for a defibrillator, sparks dancing along his skin like lightning. He hovered them over the skin of Jasper's abdomen, and the young man let out a noise of pain as something moved under his skin and muscle towards the open wound.

There was a sickening thwap noise and Tweedy lifted his hand, revealing a small, bloodied bullet. "You're turn Dressmaker."

"Tailor," the other man said sharply, rolling his eyes as he dug into his small pack. He pulled out a few silver looking pins and, before Jasper had a chance to protest, had stuck them into the skin of his stomach around the wound and made him yelp in pain again. Then he placed a hand over the wound itself and a warm feeling spread throughout, making the pain vanish completely.

Jasper felt himself getting sleepy, and almost didn't notice the tiny pricks as Tailor pulled out the silver pins. Jekyll helped him sit up properly, "Well? How do you feel?"

"Doesn't hurt anymore," the shapeshifter mumbled, blinking and trying to wake up. Jekyll grinned and looked to Tailor, "Another patient saved my good Robert."

"Please Henry, we both know patching bullet wounds is easy," Tailor said, smiling. He and Jekyll lifted Jasper to his unsteady feet. "And let me guess, you want me to make something for this youngster to wear too? _Before_ we get our pay, I might add."

"Just reuse some of your old materials Lanyon, it's not like we've any lack of old designs," Jekyll said, pouting a little. Lanyon, Tailor, Robert, whichever name he used, put a hand to his chest as if shocked. "You're asking me to get rid of my legacy Henry! How dare you."

"You're telling me you don't have a design that will work for a strapping young shapeshifter then?"

" _Of course_ I have a design that will work, I just don't have enough dye to make it any colors other than neon orange and teal," Lanyon groused, sweeping a hand through midair. "Not to _mention_ the modifications that it'll require to keep its structural integrity through shape changes." His tone of voice suggested he wasn't planning on actually making the suit but was following the train of thought because it was interesting.

He glanced at Jasper, noting his lack of a shirt and bloodied jeans. "Of course, we need to get this lad some better, basic clothes first before you send him on his merry way, can't have him running around shirtless and bloody."

"You go back to monitoring," Jekyll said lightheartedly, placing a hand on Jasper's shoulder. "I'll show our new cadet around."

"New cadet? Henry you can't be serious! What're his powers beyond lycanthropy?" Lanyon looked expectantly at Jekyll, who in turn looked politely at Jasper, smiling warmly. Jasper swallowed hard and said, "I uh, can be any animal, actually."

Lanyon blinked, "Wow, how does _that_ happen?" Jasper offered a weak shrug and the Tailor frowned, "Of course. We'll figure it out later for your file, but for now, don't touch any of the outfits and don't use your powers outside the training rooms."

He gave Jekyll a little wave and turned to walk off, muttering something about plasma infusions. Tweedy, who Jasper now indeed recognized as the vigilante Shocker that'd rescued people from the top of the London Eye when it'd stopped and kept a plane in air when its fuel cells had run out, followed after.

Jekyll smiled warmly and looked around the room, "Well, that was certainly an introduction wasn't it? Well, this is the Hub, you'll get your missions and training schedules from here, emergency exit elevator is over in that corner and the coffee machine is right next to it."

"This, This is, I can't believe this." Jekyll looked at Jasper with a raised eyebrow, "Can't believe what?"

"All these vigilantes, everyone thinks they're dead or hiding, but, but they're, _here_! And it's, I shouldn't be here! It's too, professional, elite this is-" Jasper fumbled for the words, and in his pause he heard the doctor laugh. He turned to look and Jekyll shook his head, taking a jacket from where it was hung on the banister of the stairs and slipping it over his, Hyde's, costume.

"We're nothing but two rich people and a bunch of good souls who want to help people," he said, placing a friendly hand on Jasper's shoulder. "Now, let's get you something better to wear yeah?"

~

Rachel Pidgley stood at the center of a dark room, she was blindfolded and held two throwing knives, one in each hand. Around her, shapes moved in the faint light, things she knew were holograms and puppets, a large simulation, yet she didn't even twitch. The mask over her mouth silenced he breathing, the velvet shoes and tights she wore silenced her steps, and not even her dark hair made a sound as she moved her head to listen.

The sound of a single step to her right and she threw the dagger, hearing it sink into something solid, and that something fall. A breath, a gasp to her left and she threw the other knife, this one came with a cry of pain. Then movement all around her, and though she couldn't see it through the blindfold, she readied two throwing stars in each hand from her belt, taking a defensive stance with her feet spread.

A single rush of movement, from four directions and she threw the stars, rolling forward and listening as the figures crashed behind her.

There was a click, the hum of florescent lights and she pulled off her blindfold, breathing heavily, alert green eyes scanning the room. The squeak of a microphone made her jump in surprise, _"Not bad Pigeon, but you didn't kill the second guy with your throwing knife."_

"Can it Griffin, did I disable him at least?" she asked, looking at the simulated bodies that now lay scattered in the room.

 _"I don't know, did you?"_ Movement, behind her! She turned fast and staggered back, a faceless grunt aiming a gun at her. She ducked, barely a second before it fired and kicked out its legs, drawing the sword from her back and slicing its head clean off. Griffin laughed in the booth and Rachel shot a glare up at the window the albino sat behind, pounding his fist on the desk in laughter. _"You should've seen your face!"_

A throwing knife clanged against the glass and made him jump back in surprise with a girlish shriek. Rachel giggled and gathered her things as the simulations around her dissolved into holographic pixels, tumbling like building blocks. She pulled out her pigtails, letting her dark hair fluff up, and dusting off her small skirt as she walked out of the simulation lab. Griffin angrily threw her a water bottle which she expertly caught.

"Your turn tomorrow, Invisible Man," she said, taking off the cap. "You get to see if you can blindside me."

"Oh sure, and I'll end up with a shuriken in my side again," he sneered, shutting down the lab with angry jabs at the keyboard.

"Hey, if you can't sneak up on me, you can't sneak up on anyone, simple. As. that," Rachel said, smirking at him as she turned to leave the lab.

And ran face first into someone wearing a navy blue hoodie with barely a wrinkle. She frowned and stepped back, "Hey watch it! Lady carrying sharp objects he-" she trailed off, realizing that the stranger who stood in front of her was in fact, very cute.

And Doctor Jekyll was standing right behind him.

"Ah miss Pidgely! At the late night training again?" Jekyll asked with a smile. She shook off her stun and smiled at the doctor, "Insomnia caused mostly, but you know I don't sleep as much. I got caught off guard last time, not going to let that happen again!"

"Well, in any case, I'd like to introduce you to our new cadet Jasper Kaylock, beast shapeshifter," Jekyll said. Jasper waved shyly, "Hello miss. If, if I may be so bold, as to ask, you're erm, Ninjabread right?"

Rachel grinned, "Hey! Nice guess! I am, in fact, the impressive baked goods ninja, master of stealth and all things sharp."

"You're, shorter than I thought," Jasper said, giggling nervously. Rachel's expression became aghast, "Why I never! You're lucky you're cute or I'd have to kill you."

"Wait what."

"What."

Jekyll chuckled at the awkward flirting and stepped between them, "In any case, Rachel, is Griffin still in there?"

"Yeah he is, unless he's turned invisible and snuck off so he doesn't have to sweep again," Rachel said, trying to ignore the fact her face was tinted pink from embarrassment.

"Do you think he'd be so kind as to show Mister Kaylock a quick demo of the simulation chamber?" She shrugged, "Probably, I mean, if you told him to he would. He doesn't listen to me at all."

Jekyll nodded and pat Jasper's shoulder, "Go in there and get yourself acquainted with our local invisible man, I'll have a quick word with miss Pidgley and then we'll head down to the dorms and get you a room."

"A room? Here? No no no I have a place downtown," Jasper stammered. He saw Jekyll's suspicious look and wilted a little, "Well I mean, it was a place, and I lived there."

"Don't worry about your things, tomorrow we'll head over and pick them up okay?" Jekyll pat his shoulder reassuringly again, "Now, go check out the simulation lab, I'll only be a moment."

Jasper nodded, gave Rachel a little friendly wave, then walked into the lab control room. Rachel watched him go with a smile and Jekyll snickered, "So, I'm guessing by your evident crush you wouldn't mind being his tutor for a little while?"

"Tutor?!" Rachel turned to look at him, "Wait wait wait what? Me, his tutor? As in, me teaching him how to be a hero? No nonononoo noooooo way, that's literally the worst way to play match maker Henry."

Jekyll raised a brow and smirked, "Is it now? I daresay you could impress him with your blindfolded fighting skills, as well as your stealth abilities."

"Yeah but as Ninja I'm a silent creature of the night, not a teacher!" She dramatically hid her face behind her arm to illustrate her point, and only succeeded in making Jekyll laugh.

"Yes but Rachel could be his teacher, couldn't she?" He nudged her with his elbow, "Come on Rachel, help me out here! I can't teach everyone, defend the city, and keep up a socialite secret identity. I need a little help is all, okay?"

"And what do I get out of it?" she countered in a snooty voice.

"You get lots of time to get to know the cadet, and solo missions," he answered in a musical tone of voice. Rachel's eyes sparkled a little at the thought of single handedly taking down a villain and she nodded, "Alright, I'll do it. Call me Miss Pidgley, hero teacher!"

~

It was three AM when Jekyll finally returned to his penthouse apartment and collapsed into bed. He'd shown Jasper about and left him in the capable hands of the Lodgers then rode home with Robert. Of course, when they spied an ATM robbery in process, Hyde made a brief appearance and kicked their petty thief behinds before finally, finally heading home.

As he lay there, face down in bed, kicking off his boots without really caring where they landed, he remembered the important Jekyll-things he had to do the next day. Besides getting the new cadet's things moved from his tiny, run down apartment to better quarters, there was a press conference that afternoon considering the fate of the brand new Nova Core and touching on the possibility of the Vigilante Justice bill.

And both of those would have, an effect, on the Society, whether the public knew it or not.

They were a "known" organization yes, not only by viral youtube videos but also by the calling cards they left behind. Literal cards, ones advertising not only their services as heroes but their service in helping young superhumans and whatnot master their powers. It was a longshot, the longest of shots, but a good number of the lodgers had been desperate for aid, and now did better for themselves and those around them.

Unfortunately, superheroes never did get off scot free did they? No, if one person died while forty others lived, the hero was told they failed and that it was directly their fault that the person had died. As if a hero didn't have to make choices, and the choices would always fall on the option of saving more lives than a few.

So a billionaire who invested in oil died when a hero had abandoned saving his yacht to instead save the tour boat with seventy people on board, every partner of that rich asshole would attack the hero, calling them callous and selfish.

And this was where Henry Jekyll came in.

Ever since the Detonation, he'd been a massive vigilante spokesperson, because one of them had saved him. Sure, in the process it'd changed him and created his second form, but he was alive damnit! And he'd saved hundreds of other lives in the years since then! Not just with medical research concerning the poisoning that cropped up following the Detonation, surgeries and whatnot, but by being Hyde as well. Strangely, only conspiracy theorists had put it together that the famous Jekyll and vigilante Hyde were the same person, as if the eyes weren't enough of a clue.

One green, one red, forever marking him as different. Thankfully, all it took was a custom contact to make the eye look glassy and faded, blind.

And now here he lay after a night well done, unable to sleep.

Something was nagging at him, some feeling in his gut that something was wrong. It was no doubt, where superheroes sprang up, supervillains followed short behind. He considered the Society lucky, they'd yet to have a true enemy beside the public, but perhaps this feeling was the worry that something big was coming.

Then again, he'd had this feeling every night since becoming Hyde, maybe it was just time to-

The blaring sound of an alarm clock startled Jekyll from his sleep and he sat bolt upright in bed, only then realizing he still wore his costume. With a swear, he silenced the clock by slamming a fist on the snooze button and climbed out of bed, four hours of sleep, great. Hopefully he could get a few minutes of shut eye on the way to the press conference.

He unzipped out of his suit on the way to the bathroom and, to his distaste, found an odd hybrid staring at him from the mirror. Not quite Hyde, not quite Jekyll, his hair a wild dirty-brown mess and two inches missing from his stature. It took a moment of concentrating, but eventually Jekyll's proper reflection stared back at him, complete with the scars from the explosion on his shoulder.

Tracing a hand over the mottled skin, Jekyll found himself thinking of Morcant, of the day everything changed. None of the public even knew he'd been affected by it, hell he could barely think about it without shuddering some days, but everyone knew about the Detonation. All the Lodgers had been there, that's why they were what they were now.

No one knew the whole story of what had happened to him there.

Regardless, far more important things to do today! Settling in a cadet, clearing up questions with the press, maybe saving a few lives in the process, busy busy busy!

As he showered, the phone began to ring in the other room. "Poole! Put it on speaker."

" _Yes sir Doctor Jekyll,"_ the AI responded, followed by a beep from the intercom outside the shower. " _Henry! I've already called the movers out to Mr. Kaylock's place, Rachel says she can supervise."_

Jekyll sighed deeply before answering: "Wonderful!"

_"Are you in the shower right now?"_

"I just got up Robert what do you expect me to be doing?" Both of them laughed as Jekyll turned off the faucet and stepped out, drying himself off. "Remind me again why we've got a press conference."

_"Are you kidding? We've discussed it every day since I scheduled it!"_

"Yes but remind me again for the audience." Lanyon sighed dramatically on the other end, " _Very well! After the Nova released the news that the activation of the Nova Core mark two is up and running, we were asked to weigh in on the rumors surrounding them and the superhumans. Additionally we'll be making a statement concerning the newly presented Justice bill."_

"Frankly that bill just makes all the small people have no protection at all," Jekyll answered, walking to his bedroom and throwing open the too-large closet. "And that's saying nothing about the threats this new Core poses."

_"You and the 'small people', but I agree, on both fronts. You take away the vigilantes, petty crime takes a spike again. Not only that but, no one will be there if someone shows up to, rival us."_

Slipping into a dress shirt Jekyll said: "You've been worrying about it too?"

_"We both came out of that explosion with powers, so did so many others, the likelihood of no one using those powers for evil is, next to none. We're just lucky, I guess. Which is why we need to come clean to the public! Or, you do anyway. No one knows about Tailor, and it should stay that way."_

"So I need to tell the world I run around in a leotard at night because everyone knows about Hyde?" Jekyll asked, looking at the intercom as if he were looking at Lanyon. "Please, we'll have Rachel or Doddle reveal themselves, show they're ordinary people and not..."

_"Not what?"_

"Not, elite." Jekyll buckled his belt and he heard Lanyon sigh on the other line. _"Henry, come on. No one is going to say we're dishonest because we're rich."_

"Do you never read tabloids? That's all they say about us!" He slammed the closet shut, suddenly irritated. "Oh look at him! He's got all the money in the world and doesn't do anything to help anyone! Lady, half of that money goes to charities and maintaining the Society!" Jekyll sighed heavily, putting on his fancy watch and pocketing his phone, "I just, I want them to trust Hyde."

_"So, you're not going to tell them?"_

"No, I'm not, and if you tell them I'm never talking to you again." There was a tense moment of silence as Jekyll slipped his blind-eye contact on to hide his teal eye, then they both burst out laughing. "See you soon Rob."

 _"Later Hyde!"_ Jekyll hung up the call, smiling and shaking his head as he strode out of the penthouse, grabbing his messenger bag from where it hung on a chair.

As he started to pull open the front door, he paused in the doorway, turning to look at a folded parcel on the counter. Curious, he walked over and opened it, smiling as a new suit of a familiar green sat under the parchment. Jekyll tucked it into his bag and continued off, busy busy day!


	2. First Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel and Jasper get to know each other, Jekyll and Lanyon visit a press conference.

Rachel knocked briskly on a door where a brand new name tag had been taped, reading "Jasper Kaylock" in red letters. She was dressed in loose clothing, black, padded bracers strapped to her forearms, sweatpants, and a tanktop, hair once again tied back. After a moment, she knocked again, impatiently moving from foot to foot.

She knew Jasper was in there, they'd only just moved his meager belongings here an hour or two ago, but while they'd been moving she _had_ told him that they should meet up this afternoon and see what he needed to learn.

Sure, you could try and learn how to be a vigilante on your own, but if you couldn't fight, you were toast. Jekyll and Lanyon had taken a karate class when _they_ were figuring it out, and they taught everyone else, who in turn shared the skills with the new cadets. But before they could be taught, their skills had to be measured, tested, see what they needed to learn.

And since Jekyll seemed to think Rachel was fit to teach Jasper, probably because they were similar ages and she'd clearly developed a crush in the .2 seconds, here she was, waiting for him with a duffel bag on her shoulder and wearing flip flops.

Though, after about a minute, the locks in the door slid out and the metal door was pulled open. Jasper peeked out behind it, "Oh, uh, hey Rachel. Listen um, thanks for helping me move my stuff, I didn't expect all of this really."

"From the looks of it, you didn't expect much of anything," Rachel said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you out of that, hovel, honestly. How's your parrot doing?" Jasper smiled in return, a little sheepish but glad to not be the center of attention, "Christopher is, adjusting I think. Keeps repeating the word 'new' over and over."

He cleared his throat and stood up a little taller, "So uh, what's up? You, going to work out?"

"Sort of." Rachel made a vague gesture with her hand, "See, Doctor Jekyll said you're gonna be training with me apparently, so I figured we'd get started this afternoon by like, giving your skills a checkup." Jasper frowned in confusion and she smiled a little wider, "Just, you know where the gym is right?"

"Vaguely," he answered, looking down the hall.

"Meet me down there soon, and dress in light clothes." She pat his shoulder awkwardly, "It'll be fun! You'll see!"

Jasper thought about it for a second and nodded, "Okay, I'll be down there soon. Training to be a hero, I mean, I should've figured, but I didn't expect it."

"None of us expected it dude, just suddenly- boom." Both of their expressions became solemn, remembering the blast that had changed everything.

After a quiet pause, as if in remembrance for everything that happened, Jasper nodded and started to close the door, "Be down in a minute."

~

The reporters milled about like pigeons, chattering to each other and occasionally pecking at the concrete while they waited outside the rebuilt Nova Energy Center. Reduced to rubble not three years ago, followed shortly by the explosion of vigilante justice. The connection between the detonation and the rise of superhumans was uncanny; Nova had fallen under heavy fire concerning the sort of energy they used to power their Core and the surrounding neighborhoods. The Detonation had been brushed off as an accident and they said the energy they used was still in testing and they couldn't release the data yet for risk of it being stolen by other companies.

They'd hired Carew just to take lead of the Science Division, out of the blue, and she took care of everything, answered every question, did precisely what Nova wanted. She'd told everyone the facts and clammed up when they demanded more.

Totally safe they said. If that were the case, why did so many people exposed to this "energy" suddenly develop inhuman abilities? Or worse, why did so many die?

The press wanted to know it all, and they wanted to hear it from the mouth of Doctor Henry Jekyll himself, the man who'd lead the charge against Nova building the new Core and stood up for vigilante justice since the mysterious Hyde had taken to the streets. They wanted to hear it from Doctor Robert Lanyon, who'd supported Jekyll from the sidelines, who never spoke his own opinion yet clearly opposed Nova. They wanted to hear it from Hyde, the vigilante who'd made himself known in the city.

Want want want, they only wanted.

And as Jekyll's cab came to a stop in front of the building, the pigeons became a frenzy of sharks. They crowded the door, trying to snap a picture of the doctor inside as security pushed them back and pulled open the door. Henry Jekyll stepped out, dusting off his suit and striding confidently through the crowd, occasionally flashing smiles to the camera. They shouted questions at him, about Hyde, about Nova, about the Society and what he knew about it, and internally he laughed.

Oh if only they knew what was under the thin contact that hid his eye, they'd absolutely lose it!

He pushed open the glass doors and entered the Nova Core Facility, observing how lovely and shiny the white marble floors seemed to be. The facility was a large cylinder, floors ringing a large central space that let sunlight filter from the glass ceiling above all the way to the bottom. A tall, twisting metal shape filled this space, looking like some sort of alien plant growing towards the upper atmosphere. Stairs twisted up the outer edge of the building through the floors, shining chrome metal like everything in here.

A deep hum vibrated through the floor, the second Nova Core.

Jekyll could feel this hum resonating with the energy in his chest, felt it ache in his scarred shoulder, and forced himself to walk on.

A woman in a suit greeted him, leading him up two curved flights of stairs and down a short, carpeted hall to a large, box of a room. Robert was already seated at a desk, chatting with two other individuals in suits. Gabriel Utterson, the CEO of Nova Core, a man whose heart was in the right place, but who didn't seem to know where his money was going. The other was Emma Carew, his right hand woman, who was in charge of the scientific research going on at Nova, who didn't even try to veil that she viewed Jekyll and Lanyon as a threat to the company.

She was odd, no one knew anything about her yet, she existed. There were rumors she'd grown up in Spain, but she never spoke of her personal life, had no presence outside of interviews with Nova, and no one had any idea where she lived. She was an enigma, intimidating and blue, cool and demanding of respect.

Despite this, Jekyll shook hands with the woman, complimenting how her light brown skin and darker hair was complimented by her clearly expensive suit coat. She returned the compliment, addressing his custom cufflinks, which one couldn't even tell had fake jewels in them! A genuine compliment followed by an insult, such was their dynamic.

Utterson, on the other hand, appeared genuinely happy to see Jekyll and shook his hand warmly. He had been marked by the event, but not in the same was as the Lodgers had; his dark hair had gone grey since then and his wide eyes seemed sunken into his face. Many sleepless nights made him look older than he was, but it didn't show in his attitude.

Jekyll took the final open seat at the table as reporters began to filter into the room. They would ask the Nova officials for various statements, then Lanyon and Jekyll would give their opinions, get asked about recent vigilante events, and then if things went well, he'd get to explain why he'd so opposed the second Nova Core.

Two, three hours maybe, and he'd be out again, free to do as he pleased.

Maybe a sparring match with Lanyon would be fun.

~

Jasper pushed open the heavy door to the gym and peered inside, stomach churning with anxiety. Against the wall to the left, using one of the few bench presses, was a man with light brown skin and dark hair at work. Jasper had to force himself not to stare, recognizing the Clockwork Archer, whose name he recently learned was, in fact, actually Archer.

On the wall to the left were more technical machines, a few lifts, some treadmills, a punching bag, and something that looked like a video game station. Currently though, no one was playing on it, leaving the TV dark and the other equipment empty and silent. Someone had left a pair of shoes there, they looked battered and muddied, but well loved.

The wall opposite the door was lined with various weapon racks, beaten dummies, and rubber mats. A door to one side lead to a personal simulation lab, so one could fight one on one with a computer simulation or practice reaction times. A few cloth mats were rolled up to one side and a dummy with a duct-taped head lay on his side on the ground. Rachel was standing on one of these mats, a wooden staff in her hands, eyes closed in concentration.

As Jasper approached, she stood straighter, suddenly striking the space behind her with a shout, eyes snapping open. He watched her fight some imaginary foe, going through a routine that looked almost like a dance, freezing as he stepped onto the mat. She straightened, moving the staff like one would sheath a sword, "Your footsteps are really loud for someone trying not to draw attention to themself."

Jasper blushed and folded his arms, "Uh, sorry?"

She grinned, "But hey! Just means you'll have to work on stealth." She looked him up and down, noting the baggy shirt and loose shorts he wore, revealing that he barely an inch of muscle on him. "Okay, so, let me guess, you usually fight in animal form?"

"I, usually don't fight," he admitted, shrugging awkwardly. "The most I've ever fought was a bully in fifth grade. I moved to London for a scholarship and then-" He froze, finding the tip of the staff suddenly pressed to his chest and then under his chin, forcing him to look up.

Rachel tilted her head, "I knew that, that's how most of us got here. But it's pretty obvious we're not staying for that reason. Couldn't go home to tell your folks you were a superhuman were you?"

"They'd lose it," he answered, swallowing hard. Again, she sheathed her staff, "And, you were inspired by the vigilantes you wanted to put your powers to good use huh?"

Again, he nodded. "No one stood up for me when I was younger, I want to be able to do that for others."

"Then you're in the right place." Rachel offered him the staff, then went and took another from the rack. She spun it a few times, making it look so easy and light, as if the laws of physics just stopped obeying on the staff in her hands. She motioned for Jasper to stand opposite her on the mat, "Okay! So, rumor has it you can change into any animal, but that's not going to do much good unless you can fight in your human form too."

Rachel faced him, holding the staff before her as one holds a sword, "Show me what you can do cadet."

~

"And it is my firm belief that, in time, the Nova Core and subsequent models based on our original design, will be able to power cities across the planet with minimal impact on the environment," Miss Emma Carew said confidently, nodding to the reporters. The conversation had bounced between Nova being asked about the details of their machine, their opinions on the vigilantes and similar questions directed at Lanyon and Jekyll.

And even then mostly at Lanyon, because Henry had been spacing out almost the whole time. That is, until someone addressed him directly.

"Doctor Jekyll!" she said, getting to her feet in front of the many other reporters, "In your study of the victims of the Nova Accident, you said that some sort of radiation was present in their systems. Can you explain what kind of radiation it is?"

Jekyll blinked, gathering his thoughts and glancing over at the Nova officials. Carew was sending him her most subtle death glare and Mr. Utterson looked worried, or perhaps conflicted was the right word. Maybe he hadn't read the study?

Whatever the case, this young woman had a question and Jekyll had an answer.

"Unfortunately, I cannot. Radiation poisoning shows up in the human body the same way regardless of what kind of radiation it is," he answered coolly, seeing Carew relax a little. "However, I can say that this is no ordinary 'radiation'. Whatever it is, caused three patients to melt into puddles of gore, one was fried from the inside out by an electric charge their nerves couldn't handle, one drowned from corrosive slime that their mouth began to produce instead of saliva, and I could go on, but the long story short is that whatever was in that first Nova Core was not something we've seen before." He shot a look at Lanyon, "Ever."

 _Too much?_ His expression asked.

 _Maybe? We'll see,_ Lanyon's answered as the reporters began vying for attention again.

A young man this time, "Sirs, what do you think of the theory that this mystery radiation caused the rise in superhuman activity in London? Do you think there was some other cause? If so, what?"

"The timing is uncanny," Jekyll began. "The original incident, the rise first in crime and the following rise of vigilante activity, both mimicking the rise of cases of this mystery radiation poisoning and superhuman activity, are so closely timed that I can't help but believe they are connected somehow."

"Doctor Jekyll are you _again_ insisting we're using an energy source that gives people superpowers?" asked Mr. Utterson, looking down the table at him with a curious and vaguely hurt expression. Jekyll shrugged, "I'm not insinuating anything, I'm stating that I believe the energy source you're using to power multiple London city blocks caused not only the deaths of hundreds but also the rise in superhuman activity." There was a dangerous edge to his voice and his brow furrowed in anger, glaring at the Nova officials.

"In any case, this would all be cleared up if you released your research, as well as Jekyll's research you confiscated, to the public, problem solved!" Lanyon interrupted, trying to diffuse the tension with a charming smile and optimistic voice. "Simply put, if doctors understood what sort of damage this radiation could do and the government was allowed to properly place restrictions, I think everyone would get off your backs concerning the danger of this energy source!"

"Doctor Lanyon, with all due respect, we can't release that information until our model is complete," Carew said sharply, her tone of voice akin to a high school secretary who would rather be doing anything else. "Until we are certain that our Core is safe and the science is replicable, we will release the data, but until then the Nova Core Mark 2 is Top Secret."

~

For the third time in ten minutes, Jasper landed hard on his back, head knocking into the rubber mat, a wooden staff inches from his face. The wind was knocked from him and already his arms were beginning to ache from clumsily attempting to fight in his human form. Rachel was so much better than him, but if he could shift into something else, well, that might put them on a more equal footing.

But Lanyon had said the night before not to use his powers, was this enough of an exception?

Again, Rachel pulled him to his feet, "Three-zero. Not bad overall, but your reaction times need some work, and your stance. It's too easy to knock you over."

Jasper rubbed the back of his head, hissing in pain, "I think I figured that one out on my own, thanks." He looked at her, standing there, waiting for him to attack again. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what's your 'power'? I mean, no one can tell really, some say you can teleport."

She laughed, brushing a hand through the air as if to dismiss the comment, "Please, I wish I could teleport, that'd make recon so much easier."

"So what _can_ you do?" Rachel grinned and raised her staff, "Land a hit, and I'll show you."

Jasper scowled, fancy way of her telling him he wasn't going to find out, but then again he did need practice. This time, he held the staff in the center, as opposed to like a sword, stabbing it at her with a shout.

Again, as she had so easily done before, she dodged and swung to strike. The two staffs clacked together over and over again, mingled with shouts of effort. Someone came in and Jasper glanced over, only to get a swift blow to the shoulder that made him shout in pain.

"Eyes on the target cadet," Rachel teased, laughing a little as she stepped back. "Don't get distracted! If that happens in battle, you're probably going to get shot again."

"Alright alright," he mumbled, rubbing the sore spot and facing her again. "Well since it's clear I'm such a poor fighter I'm not going to be able to land a hit on you, can you just tell me what you can do?"

"I can, but I mean, you need incentive right? That's a thing, positive reinforcement." Rachel thought for a moment, "At least, I think that's a thing."

She thought for a moment too long and Jasper lunged, sweeping his staff and knocking out both her legs, dropping her on her back where he now held her at staffpoint. "Didn't you just say not to get distracted?"

Rachel laughed, "Yeah I did! Opportunistic, that'll help you in the field." And, true to her word, she showed Jasper what she could do, by turning into a shadow and vanishing into the dark smudge at Jasper's feet.

He gasped and staggered back, staring at his shadow in worry and fear, was he stepping on his tutor? The shadow became solid, stretched out in front of him into Rachel's silhouette and suddenly, there she was again with a puff of air that smelled faintly like ginger. Dusting black dust from her clothing and shaking it out her hair, wisps of black drifting off her clothes, but there nonetheless.

"You can walk in shadows, literally! That's, incredible!" Jasper exclaimed, eyes going wide and a smile tugging onto his face. Rachel blushed a little, "Oh please, it's nothing honestly. And everything I own smells like ginger now because of this shadow dust stuff." She brushed some more off her bracers, "It's kind of annoying honestly. Spook me and I melt into a puddle of black, same goes for embarrassment."

"Must've been hard to get the hang of," he said, putting the staff on his shoulder. Rachel smiled sadly, "You're telling me. I shouldn't have even been there in all honesty, it was a catering job and I wanted to help out my mum, but, who knew the world was going to change that night right?"

"World, right, like it isn't just London that's full of freaks now," Jasper said, trailing off and looking away. Rachel frowned and reached out with her staff, tapping his shoulder, "Hey, it's true not everyone got super powers, the ones who survived the initial poisoning did come out a bit weird, and some of them came out with mutations that make life impossible for them. Doesn't that make it our job to try to help them? Help everyone? Freaks or not?"

She used the staff to lift Jasper's head, "Come on, no one here cares that you're a freak. We all are. So why don't you show me what you can do? For real this time."

~

"Doctor Lanyon! You were seen recently aiding a vigilante known as Cinders after an attack at the University of Westminster, do you have some sort of connection with the Society that they seem to be connected to?"

"I was merely doing my duty as a doctor, and frankly any opportunity to examine a living, flourishing survivor of the Detonation is, one in a hundred," Lanyon answered, smiling warmly. "Cinders told me that everyone in this, Society, is afraid of coming out of the closet so to speak, as if fearing the stereotypical, locked up to be studied reaction to their abilities." He looked down the table, "I'm with Henry, however, in the belief that if the information concerning the energy used in the Core, maybe they wouldn't be as afraid to step forward and assist with the research."

"I'm getting tired of these insistences on us releasing incomplete data," Carew said sourly.

"They have a very good point, Emma," Mr. Utterson said sharply, looking to her with a steady glare. "We can reach a common ground, as soon as the research is near completion, it will be released to the public. The estimate is already a month or two from now, and when it ready, we'll come clean." He stood from the table and gave everyone a warm smile, "Now, I do believe we have to wrap this up now."

"One more question for Doctors Jekyll and Lanyon!" someone called. "They forgot to answer, do they have some sort of connection to the Society? Is this Society of Heroes a threat to public safety?"

The two doctors shared a look and Jekyll stood, lifting his microphone with him. "I believe that this, Society, is simply a lot of ordinary people with extraordinary powers trying to make a change in the world that they want to see."

"And if they're a threat?"

And here he paused, knowing full well they technically were a threat. "No comment."

The room exploded with questions and he turned to Lanyon, "Come on Robert, I think we're done here. Much good it's done us to stay here and try to insist there was a problem when everyone's in denial."

"To be fair, you were letting your emotions get ahead of you," Lanyon said, standing with him.

"Gentlemen-" they turned to look at Utterson, who nodded to them in a genial manner. "You've made, very good points today. You're right about us needing to release our information to the public, but my hands are tied you understand."

"Well, you're making an effort, and bureaucracy has got us all chained up in one way or another," Lanyon answered, smiling. He offered his hand, "We must speak again, on more friendly and less, public terms."

"I certainly agree."

~

When given the choice of any form to take, Jasper often picked a wolf. His family had owned a German Shepherd for many years, and that was the first form he actually took after the Detonation. Now he'd taken the shape of something larger, with bigger teeth and a bark to match. Rachel looked scared, at first, to see a brown wolf suddenly on the mat in front of her. But her fear turned to a grin, and she raised her staff to face it.

Archer must've left the gym at some point, because he came back with friends to watch. Now that Jasper was more in his familiar element, he was on a more equal playing field with Rachel, biting at her but not landing any hits, swiping but only catching fabric with his claws. More than once he'd pinned her to the mat under his paws and had her laugh, saying he was pretty good and such.

And then she tried scratching under his ears and had him rolling on his back, hind leg kicking and tongue lolling, as the other lodgers giggled and snickered. It was embarrassing, but there was always that part of his brain that stopped being human when he changed shapes and he forgot to care about them laughing while she scratched him.

When he finally changed back, there was a small smattering of applause from the Lodgers gathered.

"Smashing job!" one said.

"Honestly incredible!" chirruped another. Jasper felt his face get hot and bright pink, he fought the urge to shrink into a mouse and hide. "Th-thanks."

Rachel stood and helped him to his feet, "You met most of these guys last night didn't you?" He nodded timidly, shaking hands with those who approached and smiling nervously.

These were heroes he'd seen on TV, on Youtube and the news, people who'd inspired him and here they were right now! Talking to _him_ and saying they looked forward to training with _him_ , to think he would be here now! Among new legends who treated him, not like some stranger, but as an equal!

And they were all so, curious.

Each had their story, and they wanted to know his, all of them asking tied up his tongue and made him nervous. He hunched back as they kept asking and Rachel had to step between them, "Alright alright break it up people, we'll fix up his file and you can read it there, let him catch his breath. I only just spent the last hour kicking his tail and we both need a break."

She pat his shoulder reassuringly as the curious Lodgers dispersed, returning to their various rooms and jobs. Jasper relaxed a little, "Thanks Rachel."

"No problem Wolfy," she answered, smiling at him. She took her sandals from beside the mat and slipped them on, "C'mon, let's go get something to eat, unwind and talk a bit more."

Jasper smiled again and did the same, offering to take her bag for her.

~

As the press dispersed, a man approached Jekyll and Lanyon. They recognized him instantly as Simon Stride, Emma Carew's assistant in the science program. Jekyll blamed Highschool, but Stride always reminded him of some sort of drama kid, sharp nose, thin face, long, styled hair and bright, intelligent eyes. He didn't talk in public much, seemed to be more of a scientist than anything, and he kept most of his opinions and information close to the vest. He always spoke politely, apologized when he said too much or pushed a boundary.

But there was a certain acted way in his mannerisms that hinted at shallowness and lies.

"Doctors," he said, approaching them with a very small smile.

"Doctor Stride," Jekyll answered, somewhat sour. Stride shook his head, "I see, you're still bitter about your research. Well, I actually came in hopes thanking you again for it, we've figured out a way to, stop the Nova poisoning with your original analysis."

"You're a bit late Stride, no one's experienced symptoms of the poisoning for about six months, which is a good thing," Lanyon said lightly. Stride nodded slowly, "I suppose, but knowing the, new nature of the Nova Core, it's entirely possible smaller, incidents could occur."

"If they do, you'll be in hotter water than you already are." Jekyll folded up his papers, tapping them on the table to punctuate his sentence. Stride raised a fine eyebrow, "I'm fully aware doctor Jekyll. And, I don't mean to be rude, but you'd do well to hide your temper sometimes."

"My temper is quite under control," he said, meeting Stride's stare. Truth was, if he had any less control of his emotions, Hyde would be shouting in Stride's face and inclined to throw a punch or two.

There was a silent moment before Lanyon forced them to bid Stride a goodbye, and leave.

The reporters followed Lanyon and Jekyll all the way out to Lanyon's car, as if they were going to get something more by lurking and stalking. Jekyll kept his mouth shut, though he wanted to tell them all to buzz off and bother someone else. He could feel the energy humming in his chest and wanted more than anything to go for a run along rooftops. Unfortunately that would not be possible until they managed to lose the crowd of pigeons that still followed them.

Even as they shut the doors of Lanyon's sleek, black car, people still lurked outside waiting for some big scoop.

Jekyll stayed silent until they were on the road, "This is exhausting."

"What the double life or the answering the same questions hundreds of times?" asked Lanyon, eyes on the road ahead of them. He saw a flash of teal out of the corner of his eye and sighed, "Look Henry, the only way we'll be able to stop leading double lives is by either getting Nova to admit what they did or facing a supervillain! I'm being extreme but still, we made the choice."

Jekyll brushed his now greyish hair out of his eyes and leaned back, "You're absolutely right. It's just, annoying having to pretend I don't know a lot of the answers. Worse yet knowing what would change if we told everyone the truth."

"So, you're going to mope about it?"

"I'm not moping, I'm tired, there's a distinct difference and the difference is how dramatic you're being." He pointed at himself, "Not being dramatic right now."

"You changed into your alter ego in the passenger seat the second we got away from the press, you're being pretty dramatic." Lanyon chuckled, "Of course, we put on a show for the press, they've got their statement on our stance with Nova, again, and then next week we've got an invite to sit in on the debate concerning the Vigilante Justice bill."

"Great! Big name politicians deciding the fate of the impoverished population without them getting a say, same as always." He sighed and leaned against the window, "Whatever. I just need to go for a run or something, fight someone."

"That can't be healthy."

"Neither is nearly passing out every time you use your powers," Hyde countered, smirking a little. Lanyon frowned, "I, guess you're right."

He sighed dejectedly and turned up the music, "Afternoon at the base?"

"I think that sounds like a plan. New cadet, friends, and maybe some drinks," Hyde mused.

"No drinks."

"Damnit.

 


	3. The Nova Core Detonation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment everything changed is discussed over lunch.

"What're you hungry for?"

"Um, just, anything I suppose."

"Chicken sandwich? Protein will help after exercise."

"Sure, why not."

The Society's "cafeteria" looked more like a diner than a work lunchroom, which was surprising. As if someone had picked up four, run down, beside-the-highway American restaurants, mashed them together, and put it two stories underground with a cheeky looking kitchen. Plastic blue booths lined the walls, silver chairs and tables of different shapes were scattered here and there, and a kitchen stood where one would expect a diner's counter to be. The appliances looked worn but well kept, the fridge was covered in photographs and newspaper clippings.

Rachel seemed as at home in the kitchen as she had been on the mat, humming a little song as she fixed up lunch for herself and Jasper, who sat at a table nearby massaging his shoulder. She carried over two plates and sat with him, "Sorry again about kicking your butt so many times, I had to figure out how good you were. Really it's, nothing personal."

"I figured after you apologized four times when I hit my head on the concrete," Jasper answered with a smile, holding a plastic bag full of ice to the back of his head. "Thanks for the ice, and lunch, and the training, and like, dispelling the crowd."

Rachel giggled, "No problem dude. I just hope I'm not making this whole thing, too intimidating, don't want to scare you off before you've really started."

"You're, not the scary one," he admitted, folding his arms on the table. "When everyone was there, I just got, kind of overwhelmed. Like, here are all these cool people I've looked up to, and they think I'm something great. I just, I'm just an animal, what's so great about that?"

"It's, kind of incredible actually, not many shapeshifters out there that can be, anything," Rachel answered, smiling warmly. "Like, take me for example, I've only got two forms. Shadow and, not shadow. Doctor Jekyll's only got him and Hyde, make no mistake though, they're the same person."

"Hey um, I know this probably should be like, he should tell me but, why is he...." Jasper trailed off, looking down at his sandwich. What did he mean to say? Why was the brilliant millionaire with a future a superhero now? Why was he at the Nova Core when it blew?

"Why is he Hyde?" Rachel finished, looking at him curiously. Jasper nodded slowly, "Yeah, like, Hyde was the first vigilante that showed up after the blast. Why would, doctor Jekyll, and man who's got it all, who has no reason at all to care about people who can't defend themselves, why would he risk losing everything to, to do this?"

"Beats me. But, he did tell me why he was at the expo. Like, I was there catering, you were-"

"With my friends, actually, presenting our research at the fair."

"What kind of project?" He blushed a little, "Well er, it was research of wolf pack dynamics of packs that had rehabilitated wolves reintroduced and uh, it uh..." Again he trailed off, hunching up his shoulders, "We stopped talking after the blast."

There was a moment of quiet between them.

"Jekyll uh, well, I don't really know why he does what he does as Hyde, but I think it has something to do with what happened with him after the blast," she said, thoughtful.

"What happened?" Jasper asked, sitting up a little. "Or, should I wait for him to tell me?"

"You can ask him but, he doesn't like talking about it. Here's what he told me though-"

~

The original Nova Core building wasn't as shiny or cylindrical as the new one, it was more of a box. The lobby was a large box, filled with temporary tables on which various experiments and posters were set up. People milled about between the tables, talking with the young, and old, adults who stood behind, explaining their projects. A large white banner hung over the glass doors, painted with colorful letters that read: "Nova Scholarship Science Fair" and little scientific symbols to fill the extra space.

Ameteur scientists of all kinds had come in hopes of winning the cash prize, or maybe the full ride scholarship being offered for not only the winner but their entire research team. The competition was fierce, everything from biology, chemistry, inventors, children to middle aged adults, and everyone came to see too. So many people, if they'd charged for admission, they'd have made a killing.

The second story could overlook the lobby, with a face of thick reflective glass that hid observers from the floor below. Up there, deans from various colleges, renowned doctors and scientists, gathered to examine the projects being displayed and determine a winner. Well, determine a winner and advertise themselves where they could, and get free wine.

Doctor Robert Lanyon had been invited to take part in the judging and had likewise invited his good friend Doctor Henry Jekyll along as his, plus one. The hum of the first Nova Core, a revolution in completely safe, green energy, lit the whole building and the lights of every house and building for a radius of three city blocks, and could be felt in the floor of the building.

"That's him?" a man named Stride asked his superior.

"Indeed."

"I don't see why you think he's the man for the job," Stride said, rolling his eyes.

Dr. Jekyll had been listening to it, to the hum in the building, watching the event below with unfocused eyes and a glass in hand, when Mr. Gabriel Utterson approached him. He had darker hair then, and a lovely, trimmed moustache. "Incredible, isn't it?"

"What's incredible?" the doctor asked, blinking out of his thoughtful state and looking to the business man. He smiled, "Why, the future. Look down there, at how many young and hopeful minds are walking around. Children, inspired to do something great, young adults paving their own futures with no hesitation, it's incredible to think of what's coming in this age."

"Yes incredible, assuming we humans can get over our own selfish natures before we destroy each other," Jekyll said lightheartedly, gesturing with his champagne glass.

"You're a pessimist Jekyll, if we are to be our own demise, well, it's going to be a wonderful ride until then." Utterson sighed, looking down again at the crowd, "Humanity, has so much good in it. Men like you and I, who have a footing in the world we've made, we put rules in place that cause others to squabble and fight for us, that way we may never lift a finger and never deal with our actions. Frankly, it's abhorrent."

"And that is why you chose to give those homes free power?" Henry asked, taking a sip. He nodded gently, "Indeed. If I could help only a few onto their feet by reducing their basic living costs, well, that would be enough till I could do more." He motioned, "Will you walk with me?"

"Of course!" Jekyll answered with a practiced smile, what reason had he to say no?

They left their glasses at the minibar and walked beyond the conference room where the party was. Down silent, empty halls, passing office rooms occasionally where mothers and fathers were getting that last hour of overtime before leaving. Gabriel greeted those he knew, and those he didn't, encouraging them to stop by the break rooms for snacks to celebrate tonight. Offices turned to maintenance closets, clerks to plumbers and electricians, white collar to blue collar, Gabe's smile never faltered.

As they went deeper into the building, Jekyll found himself looking over his shoulder frequently, as if afraid he was going to be trapped down here. "Gabriel, I appreciate that you're taking the time to show me, whatever you're going to show me, but I'm sure your company is going to be concerned where we went."

"I assure you doctor Jekyll, you aren't going to vanish down here," Utterson said with a gentle smile as they descended further on a wide set of concrete stairs. The humming was louder down here, vibrating into the bones and some hidden place in the chest that seemed to resonate with it. It was fascinating to listen to, to move through, and when Mr. Utterson pushed open a heavy steel door sealed by a palm scanner to the side, Dr. Jekyll saw the source of it all.

A massive chamber that appeared made with glass, woven with some kind of metal grating, on the inside of which swirled a gorgeous blur of color and light, shifting and moving and never slowing. Pipes stretched off this chamber, holding it to the walls and in a massive metal machine that supported it from the bottom, glowing veins stretching through the machinery and into the walls around. The hum was loudest here, like standing inside a plane near the engines, but it didn't come from the energy, it came from the machinery trying to contain it.

"This, is the Nova Core," Utterson explained, sounding dreamy. "An unlimited energy source drawn from the hum of the universe itself, don't ask me how, we don't know!"

"This, this is what's powering all those houses?" Jekyll asked, staring at the Aurora Borealis that seemed barely contained by this massive machine.

"Indeed, and even that is only a fraction of energy that this machine contains." Gabriel sighed, smiling, "If only there were a safer way to contain it, that we might distribute all that energy, forego the fossil fuels we have so long relied on."

"You mean to say, you believe that this, energy source, could power London?"

"Bigger. I believe it could power all the British Isles, if only there were a way to distribute it safely." He sighed heavily, "We lost, many workers developing this machine, but now here we stand, basking in the glow of the future. And, Henry-"

Jekyll blinked as his name was said, turning to look at the businessman. "Yes?"

"I would like you to be a part of it, the future of Nova," he said, smiling again.

The doctor blinked, "I, wh- why do you need a chemist? What purpose could _I_ serve to study, _that?_ " He gestured to the grand glass case, which continued to draw his eye like a magnet. Whenever he turned away, he swore he could see a humanoid shape in the center of all that light, but it was impossible to tell.

"As, unfortunate as it is, we've yet to find the proper materials to contain it," Utterson explained solemnly. "Additionally, those who are exposed to it become, changed, in all manner of the word, the fantastic and the horrifying. We need a doctor, someone who can observe the changes of the human body, analyze them, and tell us how to fix them. Or, even to better prevent them. We need someone who will help mend what we've broken."

"And you think, I could be that person? Really?" Jekyll blushed a little, smiling, "Gabriel, you've heard too many grand stories about my studies. I am merely a chemist, and a doctor."

"That's all we need." Utterson offered his hand, "Well? Are you interested?"

Jekyll reached to shake, but hesitated. He hesitated, not because his morals had suddenly changed, but because he heard something. The sound of running footsteps along the metal catwalk above, and when he looked he saw two figures running up there. One wore blue and silver, the other red and gold. Mr. Utterson followed his gaze and stiffened, "Hey! You two! This is a restricted area! You can't be in here!"

The one in blue stopped and, judging by their posture, was horrified to see them down there. They vanished into a cloud of mist, mist that rocketed down to the men and made them jump back in surprise.

The mist swirled and became a woman, tall in stature, clearly strong and unafraid of them. She had dusty brown skin and hair of a similar, but more reddish color, that fell in a tangle down to her shoulders. Thick scars crossed a crooked nose and two more on the side of her jaw.

But what made Jekyll and Utterson stare, was the wolflike nature of this woman's ears, and the way they pressed back when she shouted at them. "Get out of here! Evacuate the building immediately or people are going to die!"

"What?" Utterson stammered, backing up in fear.

"You heard me!" she barked, "now _RUN_!"

And he did as he was told, turning and running for the door, terrified of this woman. Jekyll, however, stayed his ground, staring at her in awe. She glared at him, unnaturally blue eyes flashing a gold color, "Are you deaf or just stupid, you're going to die if you stay here!"

He backed up a step, "Who are you?"

She grinned, revealing sharp teeth, "You'll find out, if you live to see tomorrow." And again, she was mist, flying back up into the catwalks.

Henry heard the clanging of metal and turned, sprinting after Utterson to the door. Together, they slid the metal shut and listened to it seal before turning and running. As they finally reached the ground floor, pausing for air at the top of the stairs, they heard the explosion below.

The first detonation was physical, fire, hot air, a concussive wave caused by the destruction of the machine as it was overloaded with energy, an explosion that caused much of the building to collapse in on itself. Steel beams bending and concrete crumbling and cracking under the strain of gravity and mass. Glass shattered in windows and everyone at the expo began to run as the floor bucked and cracked into shards. People shouted things about an earthquake, others fell as they tried to reach the door and got stepped on. Debris fell as the ceiling collapsed in on itself, pinning people beneath concrete and steel.

There was blood spilt in that first explosion.

The blast threw Henry Jekyll and Gabriel Utterson across the room and into a concrete wall, just out of the way as the ceiling caved in, hiding the stairway to the Core below. Utterson was knocked unconscious, Jekyll left dazed and winded, praying that it was over.

The second explosion, what would become known as the Detonation, was something else.

For months, no one would agree on what it was, only that it was devastating. When the building finally settled after the initial explosion, when the dust cloud had dispersed, there was a moment of silence. People reached for their phones to call for paramedics, others went back to look for survivors, no one was ready for it.

It started low, a rumble like an earthquake, like an incoming stampeded, preceded by a wind that came from inside the wreckage.

The ground lurched, swelled, and exploded, chunks of debris surfing on a wave of brilliant golden energy that swept up and out. It threw people back, shattered windows, shook the foundations of buildings and knocked out the power not only for the buildings dependant on the core, but those on the city grid for at least five mile were dark for nearly a week. It registered as a low level earthquake at nearby seismic registers, but the damage was of a much larger one in the local area.

When things finally settled again, where the Nova Core building had been was a sinkhole of rubble.

And down there, sheltered by a collapsed slab of metal and concrete, Utterson and Jekyll were still alive. Injured, scared, and feeling sick, but undoubtedly alive.

Shaking, Jekyll rose to his knees, coughing hard on smoke, dusted glass, feeling as if he was going to puke. Something was wrong, something was incredibly wrong with him and he couldn't place it. His head was spinning and it felt like someone had clogged his sinuses and throat with steel wool, making it nearly impossible to breath as he squinted in the twilight of devastation for an answer.

As he sat there, trying to stabilize himself, it felt like his skin was trying to crawl off of him, like it was _moving_.

The sound of shifting fabric reached him through the blur of thought, he looked over to see Utterson cough. Glasses shattered, a deep cut on his arm and forehead, Utterson looked to still be alive, however clearly unconscious. Jekyll coughed again, feeling something come up in the back of his throat, something that was a disturbing teal color when he spit it out.

His left shoulder was burned, badly, the sleeve of his coat burned completely away, and he could barely move his arm as the pain sent him to his knees. But it did not bleed, and the edges of the wound seemed tinted with that teal color.

"We have to get out of here," he rasped to no one, shakily rising to his feet, fear creeping into his already shaking frame. "Damn this, damn all of this, we can't stay here."

Swaying unstably, he went to Gabriel's side and tried to rouse him, shaking him, even going so far as to slap him, all to no effect. Jekyll swore and, mustering what strength he had left, lifted Utterson on to his right shoulder with shaking knees.

They were sheltered by a massive piece of fallen concrete, but thankfully light was leaking through from somewhere above and there was an open space beyond their tiny alcove. Steel beams and metal rebar jutted dangerously out from the wreckage, creating a minefield of unstable footing and sharp metal. Sirens could be heard from somewhere, and a twisted metal catwalk formed an unsteady looking path further into the wreckage.

Despite all of this, despite the darkness, the wires dropping sparks onto the path and into puddles, Jekyll tried to walk on. But the further he carried the body of his acquaintance, the more he felt exhaustion and that freakish moving feeling creeping into his bones and muscles. He walked as far as he could down a cracked and crumbling almost-hallway, until he found a place where moonlight streamed in from the surface.

There, he collapsed after setting the body of Utterson safely aside.

He dropped heavily to his knees, onto his side, everything went dark, and he died.

Doesn't make much sense does it? But his heart stopped, for it could no longer pump blood, he stopped breathing, for his lungs were about as strong as wet paper. His skin began to drip from him, puddling under him in a nasty, goopy puddle tinted with unnatural, teal blood.

A figure in blue darted through the wreckage, as if looking for something, stopping short upon finding the unconscious man and the melting body. Curious, they walked over and knelt beside the body of Jekyll, dipping their fingers into the goo that had been his skin. A blue glow spread over their hand, "Oh, I know you."

Taking what was left of the body, they lay Jekyll on his back, moving what was left of bones back into place.

"You can't die tonight, Henry Jekyll, Thai said we'll need you." The stranger's hands glowed a brighter, more brilliant blue, as did the stone imbedded in their chest, and they placed them over the melting form before them. Goop returned to flesh, the burn wound in the shoulder began to bleed naturally, and Jekyll stirred, gasping for air as his heart once again beat.

His face crumpled in pain and he moaned, eyes squeezed shut in agony as he rolled to curl into a ball. The stranger lifted him into their lap, "Easy now, you're not stable yet, and there's still a lot of Ether in your system. Just breathe, don't try to wake up, sleep."

Disobeying without knowing about it, Jekyll's eyes began to flutter open. The stranger sighed and lay him on the ground again, standing and walking on into the rubble, searching for something. He groaned louder and rolled over, forcing himself to his knees despite the dizziness in his head. The gross moving feeling in his skin had vanished, but now a sort of hum was in his chest, and unknown feeling.

His vision was blurred, but he recognized the blue and silver figure walking from him. "Wait..."

She, the one who'd been in the Core, glanced back. "Damnit."

"Wait!" he called again, voice cracking in pain as he struggled to stand, trying desperately to follow. He tasted blood in the back of his throat and could barely stay on his feet as he struggled to walk. With wide eyes, Jekyll watched the woman roll her eyes and, without so much as a precursory sprint, leapt up onto a higher ledge in the rubble, standing there against the moonlight.

"Who are you?" Jekyll cried out to this stranger, whose form had begun to shift and change like mist, his throat feeling scratchy and dry. "What's your name?"

She looked back at him, tilting her head curiously, "You would come to know it eventually, but my name is Morcant. I'll see you again, Henry, what happened here will not be the last extraordinary thing that happens to you. Or to this city." And she dissolved into vapor with a flash of blue.

Jekyll dropped to his knees, not hearing the shouting voices as someone found them down there, not noticing how his hair had changed ever so slightly, not noticing how the hum in his chest could also be felt in the floor beneath them.

~

"Wait so, he went in that night Jekyll, and came out Hyde? But all the other changes set in months or weeks afterwards," Jasper said through a mouthful of food. Rachel frowned, "No no the transformation set in normally, it's just that this Morcant character messed up his hair when she put him back together. He was confused by it too, or so he told me."

"When did it set in for him then?" Jasper asked, frowning curiously. Again, she shrugged, "He won't say, or at least he hasn't told me. Maybe, maybe you could ask him."

The last of Jasper's sandwich disappeared and they sat in quiet for a minute.

And then a siren began to blare throughout the base, followed by a mechanical voice that said: _"Code blue, alert, alert, code blue in progress. All Lodgers report to the Hub, code blue in progress."_

 


	4. The First Code Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A minor super powered villain stirs up some trouble, their backup is rather intimidating.

Hyde and Lanyon sprinted down the stairs, side by side, just as the siren began to blare through the Society. Doors could be heard being thrown open as everyone ran to the Hub, confused and concerned. Code Blue meant superhuman criminal activity, something that had yet to happen on their watch in the three years since the detonation of the Nova Core. All of the lodgers had speculated what the first supervillain would be like, after all, in stories like these, wasn't there usually a big bad?

Someone to fight against?

"Pennebrygg report, what's going on out there?" Lanyon called as he skid to a stop behind the largest and most dramatic computer, whose massive monitor took up nearly entirely the wall adjacent to the descending stairs. Pennebrygg, a man with dark skin, curly hair, and round glasses, sat at the helm of this impressive computer, hands placed on what looked like metallic plates wired into the system.

His left eye flickered with green and black, looking almost like a computer terminal, and on the screens, images flashed by almost as quickly. Eventually, the flickering images stopped, changing into a number of street and security camera feeds. A large truck could be seen on at least four of the feeds, and it wasn't large in the way an elephant or skyscraper was large, it was large in the way a bodybuilder is.

Heavily armored and incredibly hard to tip over.

Yet here it was! Lying on its side, vault like rear open, gold, cash, and precious jewels spilling out of the shelves and cases within. A woman, looking darkly colored in the black and white video streams, was rummaging through it, easily tossing the bodies of unconscious security guards into the street. The most extraordinary thing, however, were the overturned cop cars and trucks that created a protective ring around this armored truck, all of them undamaged.

"All the feeds went dark for about ten minutes and when they went live again, she was looting the truck, has been for about five minutes now," Pennebrygg explained, glancing at Lanyon. "So, clearly she's not afraid of being arrested. The police left to get reinforcements, SO19 was called after the police got wasted by some sort of, something."

"Any idea what her powers are?" Hyde asked, scanning them. Pennebrygg shrugged helplessly, "Nothing, but I'm suspecting telekinesis given how the cars are all, scattered."

"Who's going to stop her?" asked someone else, sounding worried.

Hyde felt the eyes on his back as he scrambled for a plan. "Maijabi, we need you on recon so we can know what her powers are, Lanyon you stick with him in case things head south and we need patching up. Archer, Mosley, I want you on perimeter, if she tried to run, stop her. Ito, Pidgely, you'll be with me."

"What about the rest of us?" someone asked. Hyde glanced back, finding that the voice belonged to the cadet, to Jasper, and shrugged vaguely, "We're not going to need twenty superhumans on the street at once, even seven of us might be a bit much. But hey! Things head south? Bird's in charge and he can decide who comes to save our asses."

"In the meantime-" Hyde grinned, "Suit up, we're rolling out."

~

Lucy was having one hell of a day.

She'd finally gotten the hang of her new toy, gotten a new outfit from those high ups and was allowed to do whatever the hell she wanted now. Well, for only a day, and after she finished her assignment. Including stealing all the wonderfully lovely jewelry that this safe deposit truck had been transporting. Her new toy made it easy to get rid of everyone in the way, hope they were enjoying the Target a few streets over.

She couldn't help but laugh at the idea while examining her reflection in the rear view mirror of the truck. The ruby earrings really complemented her dark complexion, curly hair and strong jaw, while the gold necklace went with her gold colored chestplate. They glimmered especially well with the square donut shaped crystal in the center of her armor that shined darkly with a faint, blood red glow.

"Don't touch it with bare hands, it'll burn you," they'd told her, giving her these beautiful, pink satin gloves to protect her hands. Damn, she looked great!

There was a flicker of light that reflected off the mirror, and off of Lucy's maroon colored mask, the reflective lenses hiding her eyes as she turned to look. A smile tugged at her face, "Well well well, took you long enough."

"So you were expecting me?" Hyde asked with a smirk, leaning against the open mouth of the truck casually, as one would lean on a counter.

"I was expecting a lot more than a short green weirdo in spandex," she answered, frowning and taking off the necklace. She carelessly tossed it aside, "Thought you'd be taller honestly."

"Rude." He leaned back as she approached him, smiling smugly.

"Let me guess Hyde, you've come to catch me and take me in," she said dramatically, looking down at him with the smuggest of smiles. "Like a good little boy."

"I'm actually here to get the money back to the people who trusted this bank to protect it," he answered sharply, squaring his shoulders and looking her in the eye. "So if you drop the gold, tell us where those guards went, and then leave, we won't have a problem."

Lucy stared at him, frowning slowly. "I see how it is." She sighed dramatically, "Well, so long as I'm here-" in a flash of red she was gone and something slammed into the back of Hyde's head, making him stumbled into the car.

Feet skid to a stop behind and when he looked, Lucy was running for the other cars. Every few seconds, she'd flicker, appearing maybe six feet ahead, running on top of a car or something. Hyde scowled and gave chase, "Observer! She's headed your way, keep an eye out and get me a read on her powers now!"

Despite how she seemed to glitch through space, Hyde easily caught up and kept pace with her, much to her visible dismay. She turned and blinked out, reappearing on the second story of what looked like a restaurant, causing a panic as she blinked again, and reappeared on the rooftop. Hyde swore loudly and jumped up, a single bound flinging him up onto the second story with a fancy flip on the way.

As he ran across the story, he saw Maijabi and Lanyon at a table out of the corner of his eye, watching with concern as he scaled the wall and landed on the rooftop. He couldn't see her anywhere, but he also couldn't see her running, so unless she'd blinked off to nowhere, she had to be here somewhere.

A click on his radio, " _Hyde, keep an eye out, she has a short range teleport with a minor cooldown and can send objects to any location of her choosing that she's been to before. If she grabs you, we'll lose her._ "

"At least tell me SO19 has the truck under their jurisdiction," he said in a low voice, running across the rooftop, looking every which way to find her.

" _Aye, they're cleaning it up. Some of them are following you, keep an eye-_ " the transmission was cut off by a foot slamming into the side of Hyde's head and knocking him onto the concrete rooftop. His vision went to stars as he crashed, and despite the fact his conscious mind was scrambling, he was able to roll before a boot slammed into the space where his head had been.

He rolled again onto his knees and scrambled to his feet, running and spinning fast. Lucy blinked, once to the left, to the right, then in front of him with her fist pulled back to punch. Hyde ducked and lunged, only for her to blink out of his grasp and send him rolling across the roof.

She grabbed the back of his suit and dragged him back onto his feet and sent him stumbling back, arms spread on either side. It was a pause in his action long enough that she could throw a punch, first into his stomach and then his face. If she took him out now, then he couldn't even follow her if she tried to run!

Then she could get away and this prick would be dead and no one would be after her! (And her mission would be complete but that was less important than just getting away.)

That thought was barely enough of a distraction for Hyde to catch her next punch and throw her off balance by pulling her towards him. He raised his hand to strike only for her to blink out of the way.

 _SLAM_! Into his back and throwing him to the ground. _WHAM!_ A foot driven into the center of his back just below his ribs and another kicking him onto his back. And when he opened his mouth to speak, the heel of one of the boots planted itself in his throat and press hard.

Hyde choked, gasping and grabbing at her leg, trying in vain to pull away.

"You're sturdy, and you're annoying," Lucy snarled, putting her weight onto his throat. "First, you ruin my shopping trip, then you stalk me, then you try to fight me!" She tapped her forehead, "Stupid, Mr. Hyde, just plain stupid."

He gasped, growling with what little air he could get with her foot on his throat. "I don't see how you're such a big hero, you don't have any powers besides being a bit of a kangaroo."

A knife flew out of the shadows and embedded itself hilt deep in Lucy's shoulder. She shouted in pain and Hyde threw her foot off, watching as she blinked back about five feet, ripping the blade from her shoulder and staring at it, as if surprised to see her blood on the blade.

From the shadow of an air conditioner, Rachel stepped out into the sunlight. She looked like a ninja, dressed in dark blues and nearly blacks, a mask over her face, padded bracers on her forearms and calves, belt loaded with knives and throwing stars. Her eyes locked with Lucy's and she drew two more blades, standing at the ready.

Lucy took a step back, holding her wounded shoulder and looking around worriedly.

A pair of thin hands grabbed Hyde by his shoulders, lifting him to his feet. "Flashbang?"

"Ninja carried me up here," Ito answered, smirking behind their dark lensed goggles. "Need a hand boss?"

"I'd never admit it," Hyde said, wiping blood from where it'd leaked from his nose.

Ito's codename was Flashbang, because their powers made it so easy to cause chemical explosions, and they dressed like a mad scientist. Stained, tattered, and slightly singed labcoat, thick boots, fitted pants and a bullet proof vest, all complimented by bug-eyed dark goggles. They wore no gloves, however, and as they faced Lucy, a strange, sizzling chemical began to drip from their palms.

"Alright missy," Ito said confidently, "if you know what's good for you, you won't blink again."

"My name's Lucy," she snapped, looking between the ninja and the scientist. Then she looked up, seeing another rooftop, "And you can try to catch m-AGH!"

Another blade, in the back of her knee, dropping her to one leg. For an effect, Ninjabread flipped her second blade in air, eyes leveled on Lucy in a silent glare. Flashbang approached and knelt, "You want to keep at this? Or are you going to hold still?"

One could feel the glare through Lucy's mask, though the scowl on her face was enough.

But she seemed, slightly distracted by something.

"Fool me once, shame on you," she said, standing slowly, hidden eyes locked on Flashbang's. "Fool me twice-" she blinked barely a millisecond before Ninjabread's third dagger struck, giving it a clear path into Flashbang's upper arm. They shouted and grabbed it, Ninjabread's eyes went wide, and then her eyes rolled back as a piece of wood snapped in half half over the back of her head.

Lucy dropped the board, "Shame on me."

"Ninja!" Hyde shouted, sprinting over. Lucy blinked away as he neared, kneeling and checking to make sure his friend was alright. Another crash, like a small explosion, and he turned to see Flashbang throw something else at Lucy who blinked away. He recognized the flash, sodium and water, Ito wasn't holding back.

Hyde lifted Rachel to a sitting position, she stirred with a groan. "Stay here."

He stood in time to see Flashbang grab Lucy's gold colored armor, something sizzling as their hand came in contact with the metal. Lucy panicked, and when she tried to blink, Flashbang blinked with her, both of them glitching across the open rooftop like a broken video game. Flashbang's grip on the armor remained strong and they became determined to tear it off.

One particular blink left them with Lucy's back turned to Hyde, and he jumped, grabbing her around the neck and clinging like an angry monkey. Lucy shouted, swore, and then her armor broke.

There was a flash of red light, and Lucy fell backwards, Flashbang gripping the front plate of the armor chestplate in their hands. The metal was tarnishing and melting in their grip so they dropped it, the metal clanging on the rooftop, red gem sparkling.

Hyde flipped Lucy for he still clung to her back, now pinning her to the rooftop with her arms behind her in his grip. She yelped in pain but he kept her pinned. "Flash, I need something to bind her hands."

Ito flicked the melted metal from their hands and strode over, rubbing their hands together. When they pulled them apart, a gooey looking string was stretched between their palms. They wrapped it thoroughly around Lucy's wrists, watching as it changed from a goop to almost a plastic. They did the same to her ankles, despite her protests and shouting.

The two vigilantes fist-bumped as Hyde got to his feet, both of them breathing heavily.

"I think we over compensated a bit," Ito said, looking at the irritated, but silent Lucy.

"Considering my nose is broken, you got stabbed and Ninja got knocked out, I don't think we would've gotten her without all three of us," Hyde countered, folding his arms. "That being said, nice job Flash! You, you saved my skin and R, Ninja's."

They heard a sound of bending metal and looked to where Ito had dropped the chestplate, it had continued to melt from what chemical was left on the metal and bent. Hyde frowned and walked over, picking it up and catching the square, red gem as it slipped out of its holding. It looked familiar somehow, though he couldn't place it.

In his hand, he felt the gem humming, and a slight warmth seep through his glove. With a frown he walked back over to Lucy and Ito said: "After your radio broke, Maijabi told us that gem was the source of miss Lucy's power, but not what she could do beyond the short range teleport."

"Convenient that I didn't hear it," Hyde remarked, frowning. Curious, he imagined himself standing beside Ito, and to his delight he appeared there, as easily as one would walk over. "And powerful, did you see that?"

"We need to get you a better radio because you would've known that if you'd been listening."

"Hardy har har, it's not like she kicked me in the head or anything," Hyde said with a frown. He looked at the gem, "More importantly, why didn't she just blink home?"

"It's short range, obviously," Lucy snapped, sitting up despite being bound up. "I can send stuff to wherever I want but not myself, but hey, I've only had it for six hours, I could've used more practice."

Hyde and Ito shared a look.

Hyde knelt in front of Lucy, passing Ito the red stone. "You've only had it since this morning? Who gave it to you?"

"None of your bloody business," she growled. "Tell you what though, the people who gave it to me? They're gonna tear you freaks apart and turn you into batteries. At least I'm still human."

"You je-" Flashbang put her hand in front of Hyde, stopping him from getting even angrier. Hyde took a steadying breath, forcing his hands to relax, "You think we had a choice?"

"No, but I know, powers or not," she glanced up, "You three are dead meat." Ito and Hyde looked to the sky and froze, spying a helicopter overhead, one with a very large gun mounted on the bottom. Lucy grinned, "Bye freaks."

Gunfire exploded and the two jumped apart, watching pockmarks blast in the concrete where they'd stood, narrowly missing them and Lucy. Hyde turned and ran, watching with horror as the gunfire followed him across the concrete rooftop, leaving a trail of small debris and death mere feet behind him.

He heard it stop and looked, watching the gunshots trail after Ito, who still clutched their upper arm in pain. Blood was beginning to stain their coat sleeve under their fingers and he could hear them loudly, angrily swearing.

There was a tinkle as a few bullet casings fell from above during a pause in the gunfire, the vigilantes took the pause and sprinted for where Rachel lay unconscious against an air conditioner unit. Ito gripping the teleportation stone in one hand, the two grabbed her under each arm and made a break for the edge of the roof, just trying to get away.

More gunfire began to slam into the ground behind them as the went to the edge of the rooftop, Hyde reaching onto the one holster on his belt for the hilt of a familiar gadget. He raised the grappling hook as the three of them ran and jumped, firing. The rocket powered hook lodged itself into the wall of another building and Hyde tightened his grip on Rachel and Ito held onto both of them as they jumped from the side of the building.

As the cable went taught and it felt like Hyde's shoulder was going to pop out, they swung over the opening and crashed through a window. He thanked whatever gods existed for his enhanced strength as he crashed on the windowsill, still holding the grappling hook in his grip. He pressed a button and heard the hook dislodge from the wall outside, the winch quickly reeling the wire back in with a _chink!_

He holstered the grappling hook and looked to his friends, Ito looked a little less than pleased and Rachel was stirring. They were in a kid's bedroom, and there was a very scared child sitting on the bed. Hyde looked at them, he had to be a good role model or something, right? "Stay in school."

The kid nodded as Hyde pulled Rachel to her feet. "Come on, we've got to get out of here before they start shooting at civilians!"

"So that was gunfire?" asked the kid as the two ran out. Ito dusted glass from their coat and glanced at the kid. The pocketed the gem, "It was. Stay away from the window, say someone threw a rock from below."

"But you tore my curtains?"

"Big rock."

Ito turned and ran after their team, saying apologies to every confused person they passed as they ran out of the apartment because Hyde was hell bent on just getting out of there with the dizzy Rachel on his shoulder. She was running on her own by the time they hit the hall, and when they reached the lobby, she jumped into the shadows and vanished.

"So, Ninja's safe, but we're still out here," Ito deadpanned as they stood in the door of the apartment building, listening to the hum of a helicopter over the building. "So great leader, what the hell do we do?"

"Still got the teleporting stone? Because if you do I'd say our escape is pretty damn obvious," Hyde countered with a strained smile. Ito pulled it from their pocket, wincing as they moved their shoulder a little. This didn't go unnoticed, "That was clever, but how the hell did she know Ninja was gonna throw another one without looking."

Ito turned the stone over in their hands, then instead of explaining they grabbed Hyde's hand and pulled off his glove, making him grab the gem as well. It wasn't like opening your eyes, it was more like that moment when you become intimately aware of every inch of your body, but instead of being focused on oneself it was the space around them. Without turning his head, Hyde knew there was a fire alarm on the wall just behind him.

He breathed out a soft, and awestruck gasp: "Oh, damn. But, how didn't she notice the first two?"

"Same way you miss things when they're staring you dead in the face," Ito deadpanned, referring to the stone. "Now how the hell do we use this? She was hopping all over the place, do we have to just imagine that we're... over..." they trailed off, observing that the two of them, were in fact, standing in the alley across the road.

The two of them stared down at the stone in their hands, noting how it felt a little hot and uncomfortable to the touch. Ito pocketed it again as the helicopter began to move, they both took off down the alley, away from where they'd been shot at.

~

_"Flashbang to Tailor, come in Tailor."_

"This is Tailor, reading you loud and clear," Lanyon answered in a soft voice, leaning against a storefront across the road where he'd been playing recon with Maijabi, the collar of his coat pulled up to hide his face a bit better from the milling, confused crowds nearby. Yellow caution tape surrounded the cafe that had been shot at from above, the unlabelled helicopter had long since flown off, and Lucy had been carried down from the roof.

But the suspicious thing was, the SO19 had come, but they weren't arresting Lucy, who sat against the cafe front with a grumpy scowl on her face. They seemed to be waiting for something.

_"Hyde and I made it back to base, as did Clockwork and Tremor, no sign of Ninja yet. We're worried she passed out somewhere."_

"Have Automation track her radio," he said in a low voice, "She's fine, remember how she took a fall off the roof? Walked it off, she'll be fine."

 _"Oh yeah, isn't like she got hit over the head and almost knocked out or anything."_ Lanyon rolled his eyes and frowned even deeper, hunching his shoulders up more and adjusting his sunglasses as two people walked by.

And then he saw a van, a van with a familiar silver and orange logo that pulled up near the crime scene. Lanyon looked up a little more, watching the Nova Corp. van open and people in blue suits climb out. Emma Carew stepped out behind the two, walking with a brisk, high-heeled step to the police officers and explaining what's going on. The officers looked a little irritated, but let her signal for the blue suited men to free and guide Lucy to the car.

She grinned happily at Emma, who's face was impassable and unreadable. If a psychic were to read her mind at that moment, they'd only hear static, for Emma Carew was a force to be reckoned with. Though, she did match Lucy's smile, which was more emotion Lanyon had seen on her face, well, ever.

She turned on her heel and strode down the road to a very slick looking black car that had pulled up beside the van. One of the windows rolled down, and Lanyon expected to see Utterson on the other side but instead he saw a young man with fine black hair and sunglasses.

"Simon?" he said to himself in confusion.

Suddenly, Emma looked up, turning around until her eyes landed on where Robert Lanyon stood against the wall, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, going from unreadable to vaguely a glare, her small, lipsticked mouth turning into a frown.

Lanyon panicked, turning and walking briskly off down the road with his hands buried in his pockets. He'd been seen, and that would certainly get brought up the next time he answered any questions for any press. Maybe now it'd just be best to head back to base, make sure everyone got patched up properly.

But why was Nova interesting in catching the first superhuman criminal? Were they finally taking responsibility for the detonation and subsequent mutations in London? Worse yet, had this Lucy character been working for them?

Not that that would be surprising, now that Robert considered it, how better to get rid of super heroes than to give them a super villain? And who else would have a helicopter at their disposal and the money to equip it with a machine gun that could easily, easily kill someone in civilian areas?

Lanyon shook his head vigorously, couldn't let himself get scared by his imagination. Nova was an energy company, if anything they were taking Lucy to study her, they weren't inhumane!

Were they?

Was he just overthinking this?

Probably.

 


	5. Discovery, Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper does some research and gets to know the Lodgers, Jekyll has a talk with an old friend he didn't know he had.

Jasper and Pennebrygg were the only ones waiting in the Hub when Hyde and Ito returned, both of them looking a little worse for wear. Blood had completely soaked the upper arm of Ito's labcoat and bruises were showing up purple on Hyde's face.

"Are you guys okay? Where's Rachel?" Jasper asked, running over to meet them as they came down the stairs.

"Do we look okay kid?" Ito snapped, storming past in the direction they both knew was the medbay. He winced, more than a little intimidated by the chemical hero's cold shoulder, and looked to Hyde. "Are, can I do anything to help? I feel useless, everyone's out on patrol or training and-"

Hyde raised a hand and stopped him, "You were here as backup, I wouldn't even want you out in the field until you can hold your own."

"What can I do here to _help_ then? Like, is there any sort of job I can do?" he asked, frowning worriedly and tugging at the hem of his hoodie. Hyde stared at him a moment, frowning in thought before reaching into a pocket on his jacket.

He pulled out that strange red stone and tossed it to Jasper, "Find out what you can okay? Don't hurt yourself, be careful, but figure out whatever you can." Jasper fumbled with catching it, nearly dropping it as it seemed to singe his hands on contact. Something hummed in his chest, seemingly resonating with the stone, but he couldn't place it.

"Wh- how do I use it?" he asked, fumbling the stone between his hands, "Where's Rachel?"

"She disappeared, but she'll be around," Hyde answered, wiping blood from his upper lip. "She sometimes disappears after missions, just give her some time." He glared at the blood on his glove and walked off, "Sorry kid, we'll talk later."

Jasper watched him go, frowning worriedly, what now? He looked back to where Pennebrygg sat at the computer, but even he had gotten up and gone somewhere, leaving the shapeshifter alone in the Hub room. He looked down at the stone in his hands and frowned a little more, the first step to any science experiment was research.

He went to one of the computers and hesitated, he didn't have a password or username to use, how was he supposed to get in? He inspected the other computers and found no conveniently placed sticky notes with passwords on them.

"Having trouble lad?" asked a kind voice, making the young man look up in surprise. A gentleman Jekyll had introduced as Doddle the day before was standing over his shoulder, smiling warmly. He had small eyes, curly red-brown hair with a moustache to match, fair skin and rosy cheeks. Rachel had said his hero-name was Candyman, and he looked like a man who you expected to see selling ice cream in a suburb on som cartoon.

Jasper sighed and put his head in his hands, "Yes, I am. I need to try and do some research but I don't have a password or anything."

Doddle thought for a moment and smiled, "Well! I think you can borrow mine until we set you up a proper profile hmm?" Jasper blinked and smiled sheepishly, scooting aside so Mr. Doddle could log in. "I'm afraid you'll have to ask Doctor Jekyll to make you a profile, as only he and a few others have admin privileges. Perhaps Pennebrygg would help."

"I just need to google a few things, but thanks I guess," Jasper said with a bashful smile. "I'll uh, ask him later, if he isn't busy."

"Oh he's usually busy with something or other," Doddle laughed as he stood straighter. "The man's a computer, constantly busy. Say, do you need a hand with anything? That's an odd looking stone you've got." Jasper looked at the red gem now sitting in his lap, humming softly, "Doctor Jekyll gave it to me, just, told me to investigate it. It, I think it was the thing on that Lucy Lady's armor? The thing that gave her her power."

"May I?" Doddle took the gem, turning it over in his hands. "Well, can't say I've ever seen something quite like this, and that humming feels like a live wire, like a machine running. Perhaps it's a battery?"

"I'll uh, write it down as a hypothesis I guess," Jasper said, watching him set the gem on the desk.

"Good luck to you Mr. Kaylock, do let me know if you find something interesting," Doddle said thoughtfully, giving the cadet a wave as he strode off. "Come find me in the kitchen if you need a pickmeup."

"Okay."

Jasper smiled warmly, feeling a little better as he spun his chair and faced the computer again. Googling "magic red gem with teleporting powers" yielded precious little beyond jeweler advertisements, comic book heroes, and news stories about Queen Lucy, as the media had coined her. Why she was a queen, Jasper couldn't tell, but maybe it had something to do with memes or the jewelry she'd tried on in the crashed truck.

It took almost half an hour of scrolling through conspiracy websites before he found something that even vaguely related to the stone he held in his lap. It was some website talking about how the periodic elements were about as scientific as dancing in a circle and proclaiming you'll bring rain, saying instead that the universe was made and controlled by four "Singularities." That, in of itself made no sense, but what kept Jasper reading was a scanned image of some old drawings.

Like, really old.

So unbelievably old it's any wonder that the image had somehow remained on the stone it was carved and painted into. It was of an oblong stone, like a rectangle with circular ends, divided in such a way that the stone Jasper held was identical to the centerpiece of this object. The way it was cut created two half circle stones, one yellow, one blue, the square red gem, and a very small, square green stone that fit into the center of the red one.

They were labelled, by the writer of the article, as such: Blue represented matter, yellow represented Energy, Red represented space, and Green represented time. The blogger went on to say that each gem chose a keeper, a guardian, in each generation, someone who would wield the Singularity in protection of both the stone and humanity. Kind of high and mighty, but the hypothesis seemed to be that these were the earliest superheroes.

A recent update was what Jasper had been looking for though, confirmation that the stone he now held, what Queen Lucy had worn on her armor, was identical to the stone that rested on Jasper's lap, humming softly.

Well, now he had basic information at least, a few pages of text printed to give to Doctor Jekyll, and maybe the others, later on. Sitting there, highlighting things, Jasper found himself remembering the prep for his display at the Nova Science Expo, and missing his old friends.

They'd been the last to get out of the building after it started collapsing, in fact, Jasper had tripped and fallen on the door way and got stepped on. When the second blast had hit, Jasper had blacked out completely, only to wake up alone at his apartment. He'd gone home that night and called his folks, they insisted he come home but he had to finish the semester. He and his friends drifted apart, one of them died to some weird illness that Jasper now suspected was Nova mutation, one of them became reclusive, and then they all just stopped talking completely after a month or two.

Or at least, Jasper stopped talking because he was having a problem staying human. At times, he didn't even know what animal he was, or if he was stuck in some form between them. It took him a week to turn human and stay human, it took a month for him to realize that he could control it, and by then the semester was over.

His choice: Stay in London and keep going to school, or go home and try to forget everything had happened. Something, maybe scientific interest, told him to stay.

And when Hyde took to the streets, followed by still other heros, Jasper realized why he'd decided to stay, beyond furthering his education. He'd graduated last year, well, maybe six months ago, and that's when he'd started running out of money. And it wasn't like he could run home after so long, he just had to try damnit.

Now, here he was... oh how things changed, oh how lucky he was.

First day and he was already on some sort of important mission, researching a stone that was probably a legendary artifact.

Unfortunately, the internet didn't seem to be yielding anything important anymore, nothing but aesthetic posts and jewelry between ads for Nova and conspiracy theories that painted the detonation as the start of some Second Coming.

Now what?

~

An hour later, Jasper could cross two things off his bucket list.

One, creating a portal on the ceiling and floor of a room and falling until he felt sick, two, turning into a bird without coughing up feathers when he turned back. He'd tried teleporting like Lucy had, and only ended up glitching around the empty simulation lab until he slammed into the wall. But he had successfully figured out how to use the stone to create portals that acted like doorways, something Lucy hadn't been using.

Maybe that was how she'd knocked the cars around and vanished the cops?

He also managed to send a water bottle from inside the sim chamber to the control room, but by then the stone got so hot he couldn't hold it any longer.

Long story short, this gem had a lot more power than he could figure out and it had scorched his hoodie when he tried to pocket it. So now he sat, making notes on his printed pages, in the empty sim lab. The young hero was so focused that he didn't notice voices coming until two people opened the door and walked in.

If Jasper had the names correct, they were Flowers and Mosley. Flowers, a young woman with freckles, dark hair and skin, but bright, tired eyes, seemed excited to see him. Or at least, her dragonfly-like wings fluttered excitedly when she came in, "Jasper! Oh Jasper! I've been meaning to ask you something!" She was only the slightest bit taller than Jasper, and he was short, and though she seemed a little curvy, it was clear that didn't inhibit her fighting ability.

He sat up, looking up from his notes and nodded. "Sure, what is it?"

"Can you turn into insects?" she asked, smiling warmly, tilting her head curiously.

"I've, never tried insects," Jasper admitted, folding up his notes and setting them atop the stone as if to hide it. "They seem, too small."

"There are some very large arachnids, maybe you could try one of those!" Flowers suggested, her wings fluttering.

"Right um, maybe later," he said sheepishly. "I'm, kind of working on something, for the doctor."

"That so? Can you share?" asked Mosley, kneeling and picking up Jasper's notes. Miss Flowers was only intimidating because she was a stranger, Mosley on the other hand was just scary. Not an intimidating figure innately, with boney shoulders and a slim frame, his yellow-lensed goggles and grey face mask made him seem less like a man and more like a robot or something. Long dark hair tied back with a grey cloth and pale-greyish skin didn't help the imagination either.

Jasper frowned, wishing Mosley hadn't picked up the notes without asking. "I've been, researching and messing around with that stone Lucy had on her armor." He picked up the gem, "Doctor Jekyll gave it to me before he went to the infirmary and told me to, 'figure out whatever I can'."

Flowers knelt, peering at the notes over Mosley's shoulder, "Find anything interesting besides the teleport?" Jasper nodded, explaining the history of the stone and his shenanigans playing with it. As he talked, Mosley flicked through the notes, "You're a very good scientist Jasper, these notes are incredibly well done."

A blush crept into his cheeks, "Oh, th-thank you sir."

"You were at the Expo I assume? I was as well, discussing alternative, safe methods to drill for oil," Mosley said casually, reaching out to shake Jasper's hand. Jasper smiled warmly and shook his hand until Flowers cleared her throat. "You said that you couldn't get the short range teleport working, could I try perhaps? When I was patching their arm, Ito told me it was like just, wanting to be somewhere else."

"Go ahead, just, watch out, it gets kind of hot." Jasper passed her the stone, "I mean, I'd guess that's why Lucy was wearing gloves."

"Those gloves were satin, they'd do nothing against something hot," Flowers remarked offhandedly, turning the cooling stone over in her hands. She blinked and was suddenly in the control room, then back out behind Mosley, standing casually. "Not too shabby."

"What did it feel like?" Jasper asked, grabbing his notes and pen.

"Like, walking somewhere, without walking," she said thoughtfully, running her hands over the smooth surface of the stone. "But, why would she have those gloves? And why would it be in armor if it needs contact to work?"

"Does it need contact specifically?"

"Could you teleport when it was in your hoodie pocket?" Flowers countered, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Jasper thought for a moment, then shook his head. She continued to gently turn the stone over and over in her hands, "Mosley, you can sense things in stones right?"

He hummed a positive answer, then frowned behind his mask. "Why?"

Flowers offered him the gem, "It's a rock after all, maybe we can find out more about it."

"You mean, if it's really the Singularity like Jasper here thinks it is?" he asked, tilting his head curiously and tapping the papers. Flowers frowned, not knowing what that was, and Mosley chuckled. "Sure, I can take a look at it, shouldn't be a problem."

"Wait you can, sense things in rocks?" Jasper asked with a curious voice, noticing that Mosley wore a pair of dark gloves.

"Powerful emotions or events in the stone's past will become visible in my mind's eye," he answered dramatically, taking off one of his gloves. As he reached to take the gem from Flowers, Jasper grabbed his wrist. "Be, be careful."

"Why?" Mosley asked, frowning again.

"If it is the Space Singularity, it uh, might have a long past, lots of emotional stuff," he said, slowly letting go. Flowers and Mosley shared a look, reconsidering.

A silent moment passed and Mosley put out his hand, "Let me try."

Flowers nodded and placed the gem in his hand.

The reaction was immediate, his hand gripped the red stone like it was electric and his face twisted up in pain. He pulled it from Flowers' hand and held the stone, staring at it in horror, or was it fascination? Impossible to tell behind the mask. Jasper and Flowers watched worriedly as he seemed fixated with the gem, silent as a corpse.

"This, this is far older than Nova," he said after a long, concerning silence, voice barely louder than a whisper, grip still tight on the red gem. "This stone, has passed through the hands of hundreds, each generation it fell into the hands of a guardian along with the others." He looked up at the others, "This stone, it belongs to Lucy, but her name isn't Lucy it's, it's-" Mosley shouted in pain, dropping the stone and holding his hand.

Flowers gasped in shock and went to his side, "Mosley, can you hear me?"

After a long moment, he said: "I'm fine," wincing as he tried to close his hand.

"It burned you, why?" asked Jasper, moving closer and looking worriedly at the burn appearing on Mosley's hand.

"Because it didn't want me to know Lucy's name," he answered somberly. "I know though, I know the Emma we know isn't all Nova says she is. And that the other Singularities exist." His voice became bitter, "And that Nova lied."

"Of course they did, but what about the other Singularities?" asked Jasper, going for his notes. Mosley looked up at him, "The Nova Core, the Energy Singularity, the sudden appearance of the Space stone? The woman with incredible powers who was at the explosion site? Emma Carew who showed up barely ten months before the Detonation out of the _blue_? Don't you see?"

"The Core is powered by Energy stone," Jasper said, realization sinking in. "That's why it made us change, because it wasn't ordinary energy! And Emma was its Guardian? But, she, why would she let them use it like that?"

"Why would Lucy say she doesn't remember her own superpower artifact?" Mosley countered seriously.

"They don't remember! Oh the poor dears," Flowers said, cupping her hands over her mouth worriedly. "We've got to tell Jekyll! Get in touch with that woman in blue, Morcant!"

"She has the Matter Stone!" Jasper shouted, grinning as the eureka moment passed. He scribbled down a few notes and scrambled to his feet, stuffing the cooled Space Singularity into his hoodie pocket. Clutching his packet of notes, he ran from the room at top speed, promising to give Flowers and Mosley the credit they deserve and encouraging them to: "Come on! We've got to tell Jekyll!"

By the time he reached the Infirmary, however, Jekyll was gone.

The infirmary looked like a slightly larger school nurse's office, complete with silly and optimistic science posters. Mr. Bird, a portly man with a handlebar moustache, glasses, a gentle smile and the ability to control plants in an almost druidic fashion, was chatting with Mx. Ito, who's upper arm was bandaged. Now that they weren't in costume, Jasper could see that Ito was vaguely feminine, with short black hair, a wirey frame, fair skin and perfect makeup. They and Bird looked up in confusion when Jasper burst through the door, looking rather like a spooked secretary from a cheap horror movie.

"Where's Jekyll?" he asked, breathing heavily.

"Gone home 'm afraid," Bird said, frowning a little.

"He was all mopey about getting his tail handed to him," Ito added in a snooty voice. Bird shot them a glare, "He was upset that you, and Ms. Pidley had gotten injured because he made the wrong call."

Ito rolled their eyes, "Still, he seemed upset over nothing. We got her arrested, we got the powerful stone thing, and no one died! There! Nothing to be sad about."

"We both know that wasn't the problem." Bird sighed and turned back to Jasper, "Now, Mister Kaylock, what's got you spooked?"

"I need to talk to him, it's really really important," he answered, shifting from foot to foot. "Is Rachel back? Maybe she could tell him."

"What's so important?" Ito asked, sliding off the examination table they were sitting on. "Did you make some groundbreaking discovery?"

"Yes!" Jasper squeaked, turning fast and running to where he knew Rachel's room was. He had to check if she was back, and if she wasn't, he'd go find Pennebrygg, and if he couldn't find the technopath he'd send it to Jekyll in a god damn Email but this couldn't just be ignored! This was important damnit!

He threw open the door to Rachel's room and stopped dead in his tracks.

There were nothing but shadows beyond the door, shadows that smelled faintly of ginger.

"Oh no."

~

" _Doctor Jekyll, welcome home."_ The lights flickered on automatically, there was a sound of the computer against one wall clicking on, electronic photo frames showed pictures of the Lodgers being silly, Lanyon smiling with Henry, none of them with him alone. He walks slowly into the apartment, pushing the door shut and locking it before leaning against it with a heavy sigh.

" _Sir, Robert left you a message, would you like me to play it?_ " Poole asked politely. Jekyll ran a hand through his hair, "Fine."

There was a beep and Lanyon's voice, foggy through the telephone line, began to play. " _Hey Henry. Look we both knew that Nova was shady, but they just picked up that Lucy person instead of the police! I'm headed back to my house to work on the cadet's uniform, he's a shapeshifter right? Come here when you're feeling back up to it I guess. No, better yet, just get here when you can so we can talk."_

Jekyll sighed again and dropped his bag by the counter, walking into the kitchen and looking around, A glass from one cabinet, a bottle of wine, and a long drink. It was already a long day and he was sore, early afternoon drinking could be excused.

 _"Henry? Is something wrong?"_ the AI, Poole, asked as if concerned. "You usually don't drink before five unless something's wrong." It wasn't really worried, Jekyll knew that, but it felt good to have someone who always cared.

"I feel useless," he answered, shrugging pathetically as he walked to the couch and collapsed, nearly spilling his wine in the process. "I have approximately two powers considered super, I can run up walls and jump ridiculous distances, but what good does that do when I get pinned? Nothing!" He put a hand over his eyes and sighed, "I'm barely a superhero, I'm a rich dude with a grappling hook and disguise and that's it."

 _"That may be true. But you have saved multiple lives over the last two and a half years and aided all of the Lodgers to learning how to control their powers,"_ Poole reminded him, the television clicking on to show a recording of Hyde talking to a man surrounded by fire, Luckett. The fires dimmed and Hyde comforted him, talking calmly as they left the camera frame.

"That may be so, but I'm pretty useless against super villains," he groaned, placing his empty glass on the coffee table and turning away from the TV.

His face hurt, his shoulder hurt, and it wasn't like that hurt was unfamiliar. For a good month after the detonation he couldn't move his shoulder, and now that residual ache was combined with the bruises from almost getting his shoulder being popped out. "I'm a terrible super hero, barely even super enough to be a hero."

"Well when I was saving your life I did kind of minimize the amount you would mutate because I didn't want you dying," an oddly familiar voice said. Jekyll rolled his eyes, "Poole you didn't do anything." And then it clicked that he wasn't alone and he sat bolt upright.

Or rather, he jumped off the couch and turned with fists raised, barely a nudge from changing form.

Standing on the deck beyond the sliding glass door, leaning against it like a highschooler in a leather jacket, was Morcant. Her hair was longer, a braid with red and yellow ribbons tucked behind one ear, and there were new scars on her shoulders. She wore fitted blue clothing, a super suit, sleeveless and short pants with a silver belt and boots. In the center of her chest, just as it had been before, was an ovular blue gem that shimmered and seemed to sparkle like glitter.

Jekyll blinked and relaxed, "You... You!" She smiled and shook her head as he stumbled over to the door, tripping over his own feet as he slid the glass open. "You're, you're real. I, I'd kind of given up on seeing you again."

"Well I hadn't planned on coming back," Morcant admitted, shrugging half heartedly as she stepped inside. "But, when I saw that Lucy person on TV, the new Nova Core, I had to come back."

"Are you planning to blow this one up too?" Jekyll asked, biting his tongue when he realized how bitter it sounded. But to his relief, Morcant laughed. "If I'd planned to blow up the first one, you wouldn't have caught us running around." She picked up a picture frame, watching the images shift. "Good to see you embraced your second life, I won't lie to you, I was concerned you'd be the type to hunt down superhumans after seeing the damage they could cause."

"Glad you had faith I wasn't," he said, walking over. He gently took the frame from her and set it on the sideboard again, "Morcant, what's in that Core? You know, don't you?"

"Something Nova should've never gotten its greedy hands on, and by containing it like that they nearly killed two of my friends, but caused that devastating explosion three years ago," she answered, tapping the stone in her chest.

"Something like _your_ stone? And like the one Lucy was wearing?" Jekyll asked, frowning. Morcant nodded solemnly and looked away with a scowl, "That was her stone, her weapon, but she can't remember that now. Whatever they did to make her and Emma forget who they are, forget who I am-" she growled and slammed a hand onto the sideboard, knocking over a frame.

Jekyll flinched, slowly reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "You knew Emma then? And Lucy?"

"Knew them? They were two of my closest friends," she said, flicking his hand off her shoulder and looking still at the photos on the sideboard. "Her name was never Lucy either, it's Sabrina! Lucy was her nickname... They did something to her mind, changed who she was."

"How would they do that?"

Morcant gesture vaguely, "It doesn't matter, if we can get Emma and, Lucy, their stones back, they would be themselves again and they would recognize me!"

"Why are you telling me this? This seems like it should be a secret," Jekyll said, leaning on the sideboard. She looked up at him, her expression akin to a teacher asked a stupid question.

"Those two were my team," she said darkly, "I've no one to help me because Thai disappeared to God knows where. But I remember you, I remember what Thai told me about you, I've seen you doing good and I've seen your skills, I didn't know who else to turn to. I need your help to get Emma and Sabrina's gems back."

"You assume I know what the stones are." Jekyll folded his arms and looked expectantly at Morcant, "What are they?"

"Powerful," Morcant answered, standing up straighter and putting a hand over the stone on her chest. "More powerful than your superhuman friends." Again, she picked up the digital picture frame, tracing her fingers over the screen. Jekyll peered over, noting the group picture of himself, Lanyon, and multiple other Lodgers.

All of them showing off their silly, first edition hero costumes.

He laughed awkwardly and reached for the frame, "I wish you wouldn't pick up the frames, they're fragile-"

"Are all these people superhuman?" she asked, pulling it out of his reach. "You look happy here, they're certainly your friends, considering how stupid you all look. Are they your team?"

"Okay well, before you go making fun of our costumes, know that I was originally inspired by you," Jekyll said, folding his arms and shrugging. Morcant looked up at him, her strange ears twitching slightly in curiosity, "You, were inspired by me? I assumed you had just decided to do good. Was I making you out to be too noble?"

"Well that was part of it," Jekyll said, a blush tinting his cheeks. "I um, well, at first I wanted to find you again, to thank you for saving my life that day. After that I kind of, realized I loved helping people."

Morcant set down the frame and frowned a little. Jekyll laughed awkwardly again, "I mean, I was already a doctor to begin with but there was always a sort of sad knowledge that you couldn't help everyone, especially after Nova confiscated my research on the Nova poisoning after the detonation."

He paused as Morcant put a finger to his lips, making him blush a little more. "You did all of that, because I didn't get away fast enough? Because you saw me turn into mist after saving your life and thought, I was some sort of hero?" He was silent, for her finger was still on his lips.

When she lifted it away, he said: "In the beginning yes, I was... Curious."

Morcant stared at him for a long moment, "Then, maybe you are the person to help me. I need to get into Nova, break into the Core and steal the gem a its center, can you help me doctor Jekyll?"

He smiled a little, "Of course, this might be just what we need to get justice for that detonation."

"The first explosion was our fault, breaking the machine to get Emma's stone," Morcant said sheepishly, smiling a little. "But, the energy wave, that was the result of holding back the tide."

"Oh so like a tsunami," he said light heartedly, probably too lightheartedly because she gave him a weird look. Jekyll cleared his throat and clapped his hands, "Anywho, I won't be able to do it alone. Would you come with me to the Society, meet the Lodgers, Lanyon and such, we can come up with a plan once we have the whole team."

"Just how many super humans came out of that detonation?" Morcant asked jokingly.

"You'd be surprised," he answered, smiling a bit more.

When his phone began to ring, the whole house began to ring. Morcant jumped when Poole spoke. " _Sir, you have a call from Mr. Helsby, it sounds urgent."_

Jekyll raised a brow at Morcant, as if asking for permission, and she nodded. "Patch it through."

Sure enough, Helsby's slightly raspy, slightly nasally voice came through. " _Doc we need you back at the Society on the double because, I don't know if you got the memo or not, we've kind of got a shadow problem that smells like ginger."_

"Wait Rachel? What's she done that's so bad?" Jekyll asked, brow furrowing in worry.

_"It's not what she's done, it's her powers! Her room looks like a black hole and it's starting to leak into the hallway! Sinnett and Luckett are doing all they can to keep it contained by keeping things lit but she won't listen to anyone! Going to be honest however, I'm not sure she can actually hear us."_

"I'll be there as fast as I can, keep her in there!" Jekyll ran for the door, grabbing his bag from where he'd dropped it. "Does anyone know why she's upset or what's wrong?"

_"The new cadet, Jasper, said he found her room all dark and scary, but no one can tell if she's actually in there! We're, kind of just assuming she is because she's the only one with powers like this."_

"What sort of power?" Morcant asked, following Jekyll and sounding curious. Helsby paused before answering, _"Jekyll do you have company?"_ The way he said it was like a kid teasing their older sister about a crush.

Jekyll scowled, "I do but she's on our side. We're on our way, keep trying to get to Rachel, to keep her calm, remind her who she is! Poole, hang up."

_"Wait Jasper wanted to-"_

Click

~

"I'm disappointed Lucy, you told me you would be able to get rid of Hyde." Lucy scowled, folding her arms and wincing when the knife wound in her shoulder protested, "I tried sir, but he brought back up."

"Back up? As in, those freaks work together?"

"Sir, for the record, we've brought the so-called Society to your attention repeatedly," Emma said clearly, arms folded behind her as she addressed her superior. "And, I don't mean to be rude, but how would getting rid of these vigilantes do anything to promote or improve Nova?"

"Once they're in our hands, or at least under our care, we'll be able to study their, abnormalities, perhaps find a way to safely reproduce them or even, cure them." He glanced at the papers on his desk, gently shifting one to hide a name that started with an M. "In the meantime, Emma, care for Lucy's wounds and keep her out of trouble. Both of you rest up, I need to talk to Mr. Utterson about reconsidering hiring Dr. Jekyll."

Emma bowed slightly in obedience before looping her arm through Lucy's good one and leading her out of the office. As they left, their superior turned on his computer, making sure the GPS chip on the red gem was still active.

Lucy limped alongside Emma as they walked along, "This is ridiculous, why can't he just tell us what's going on? All these riddles and vague jobs are getting more than a little annoying."

"If we know too much, it puts us at risk of spilling information if we get caught," Emma answered, moving her arm around Lucy's waist to help her stand. The hum of the Nova Core thrummed in the building around them as they walked through the underground maintenance tunnels leading hither and thither under the building.

In fact, these tunnels served almost no purpose than acting as transport between arbitrary plot locations in the Nova facility, as if they had been deliberately constructed to confuse people trying to get places. However, having spent the last three years working here almost exclusively, Lucy and Emma could easily navigate. And so, they went straight from their superior's office to a forgotten closet where they'd made a tiny sanctuary.

A quiet place with some discarded magazines where they could take a break from everything and just, be.

You wouldn't be able to tell by walking there, but it was just on the other side of a wall to the Nova Core. When the women sat with their back to the wall, they could feel the hum, it almost seemed to make things clearer. So there they sat that afternoon, side by side, unaware of who they were and what their boss had planned for their "friend".

Or what their boss had planned at all.

 


	6. Paraphernalia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a room full of shadow, it's probably Rachel. Jekyll does something stupid and is really lucky the power of friendship is a thing.

A single cloud of mist appeared outside a side door on a warehouse on the pier. There was nothing unusual about this door, aside from the slightly less rusty metal panel at eye level beside the door. It seemed like a door that, in its dream, wanted to be a door to a secret mob ring, or a cage fighting pit, and in the twilight it was easy to miss.

The mist hovered in mid air for a moment before coagulating, first into the form of a woman, then a man standing beside of her.

Jekyll leaned heavily on Morcant's shoulder, looking ready to vomit. "That felt, scarily familiar to when I was melting..."

"We won't do it again then," she said, shrugging and folding her arms. "Now, how do we get into this place? Some sort of secret passage? Hidden doorway?"

"No I just have to use the keypad," Jekyll explained as he caught his breath, standing straighter and going to the door. He pressed a hidden button and the slightly less rusty panel flipped open to reveal a number keypad. A few beeps and the door to the left unlocked. The panel shut with a click and Jekyll held open the door, "After you ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am, Morcant is fine," she said, striding into the stairwell beyond.

Jekyll shut the door and lead the way, hurrying past her, down the stairs into the lower level, which happened to be near the dormitories. He could hear worried voices echoing from far down the hall and started running towards them, worry gnawing at the inside of his mind. When the smell of acrid smoke hit him, he broke into a sprint.

Morcant easily kept pace with him as they rounded a corner, then another, and found one of the rooms surrounded with fire. Two men- one with wild orange hair, freckles, and hands made of metal and plastic, the other with messy brown hair, singed sideburns and goatee, rosy cheeks and bandaged hands- stood at the edge of the blaze with their hands raised, as if warming themselves. Sinnett, the ginger, had a concentrated look on his face, for he was keeping the blaze from spreading. Luckett was more relaxed, for he was creating the flame itself.

Beyond the doorway was darkness, impossible shadow like someone had filled the room with ink that was still liquid. Black blobs shaped vaguely like hands tried to reach past the doorway only to be singed by the artificial fire and shrink back. The blackness shifted and moved, every so often giving a glimpse within to a vaguely humanoid figure.

A vaguely humanoid figure shaped like Rachel.

Jasper paced in the hall, hands knotted in his hoodie, looking towards the shadows in fear. Surprisingly no one else was around, Jekyll had expected all the Lodgers to come running at the smell of smoke.

The three who were present looked up and seemed relieved to see help had arrived.

"About time you arrived Sir, Sinnett here said he couldn't keep the flames in for much longer," Luckett explained in a surprisingly calm and casual tone of voice. "Who's the lovely lady?"

"I am Morcant," she answered simply, approaching the fire and looking through the doorway,

"Hey, you're the one who saved Jekyll after the detonation aren't you?" asked Sinnett, sounding winded and exhausted, but damn determined. Truth be told, he felt like gum that had just lost the last of its flavor, and his energy felt thin. Morcant smirked at his question, "Curious, I wasn't aware I was so well known."

"Okay can we stop with the small talk? Rachel's in trouble!" Jasper said, gesturing frantically at the shadowy mass. His voice had a sort of whining quality to it, like a spooked puppy, and his packet of papers had been cast aside. Helping Rachel, if she was in there, was far more important right now.

"Have you been able to reach her at all?" Jekyll asked, walking to the edge of the fire as well. There was an odd look on his face, like he was remembering something sad.

"I heard her voice when we started the fire sir, but I don't think she's awake in there," Sinnett said, sounding more worried now. Jekyll stared at the shadows beyond the blaze, appearing lost in thought. "Put out the fire."

"What?!"

"You're aware that'll allow the malignant void to start spreading right?" Luckett said, glancing worriedly at his partner in flame, who shrugged helplessly. Jekyll turned to them with a glare, "Put it out, not all the way, just let me through, I need to get closer."

"Why the hell would you want to get _closer_?" Sinnett asked, sounding utterly confused. There was a flash to teal in both of Jekyll's eyes, "I need to speak with her, remind her what her real form is."

A gap in the fire opened and Jekyll stepped closer to the doorway, swallowing hard as the fire closed behind him, leaving him in a singed opening in front of the door. The shadows reached for him, some shaped like hands, others whispy blobs, enough to scare a sane man as they tugged weakly at his clothes. Lucky them, Doctor Jekyll wasn't quite sane anymore.

He stepped even closer, staring into the blackness before taking a deep breath and stepping in.

It was a void on the other side, yet somehow Jekyll could see himself. He cast no shadows, his breath plumed in front of his face in a cloud, and he could feel the concrete floor beneath his feet. There was a slight wind, like breathing, in the space around him, and the smell of ginger.

"Rachel?" he asked in a soft voice, reaching his hands out. "Rachel? Are you there?"

The wind shifted, it blew around him and tossed his hair before vanishing completely. Jekyll took a steadying breath, eyes searching the void for any sort of sign of his friend. "Rachel? Do you remember how we met? How I found you?"

"I was still a young Hyde, had no idea what I was doing, running around the city on two coffees and a five hour energy, looking for petty crimes to stop, convinced Lanyon and I were the exception to the Nova poison. That whole time, we weren't alone, far from it even!

"Remember how I crashed through your window at three in the morning?"

How could she forget? The window had been locked, and he'd been having way too much fun leaping from rooftop to rooftop, playing with his new grappling hook toy. It'd gotten stuck on her roof though, and instead of leaping across the gap, Hyde had been swung backwards, butt first, through a pane of glass into a pitch black room.

"How I thought I'd died then and there? But no, there you were, your room filled with shadows just like this."

That room had been colder, so much colder. The sweat in Hyde's suit froze to ice, making it hard for him to move. It was darker then too, he couldn't see himself, his body was lost in this dark place, though he knew it remained. It had been like being blind and locked in a freezer, it was hard to move his hands.

For a long time he'd just sat there, convinced he'd snapped his neck upon landing and this was death. And yet, somehow, he could still move, his heart still beat, and the icy air had felt sharp in his lungs.

"I remember how scared you were, huddling in the darkness until you heard me panicking and came out to help me."

It wasn't until Hyde couldn't find the window he crashed through the he began to panic. He'd walked in this black space, hands stretched out in front of him, reaching desperately for the walls, for furniture, for any sign that he was still in a room. Again and again his hands had returned empty, finding nothing in the space.

Despite knowing better, he had begun to panic, he'd begun to run. _"Hello? Anyone please! I'm in here! There's something wrong with this bloody room! I can't get out!"_

 _"Can you stop shouting?"_ asked a scared voice that seemed to come from everywhere. Hyde froze in his tracks, his heart racing in his chest. _"Who's there? Speak up damnit! Show yourself!"_

 _"I, can't,"_ the voice had answered, sounding scared. _"Stop shouting, you're hurting my ears."_

Hyde swallowed hard, eyes searching the darkness. _"Okay. I'll be quiet. But you have to tell me right now, am I dead?"_

 _"God I hope not."_ The voice then sighed, _"It'd suck if you were, you're the first company I've had in days."_

 _"You've, been here for days?"_ he had asked, the malice starting to melt. But he didn't let his guard down, after all, in legend it was known that monsters would lure their prey into a false sense of security before killing them. _"What's your name?"_

_"Rachel, Rachel Pidgley."_

_"Are you okay Rachel?"_

"You thought you were cursed, that you were alone, that you couldn't control it, how wrong we both were!"

 _"Do I look okay? I've trapped us both in a room full of shadows and I can't do anything to get rid of it!"_ Rachel's voice had cracked in fear, sounding full of static and wind, the same wind that had tugged at Hyde's hair as he stood in the darkness. Clumsily, he'd sat in the blackness. _"You have powers, don't you?"_

 _"Yeah, how could you tell?"_ she'd replied sarcastically.

 _"I have them too,"_ he'd told her. _"Different kinds of powers, but you're not the only one who can do strange things."_ Rachel had hesitated before saying: _"I'm, I'm not alone?"_

In the present, Jekyll offered his hands to the darkness, as if inviting someone for a hug. "You thought you were alone, and when I came you were just glad to have someone in the darkness with you, then even more excited to find out you weren't alone with your, powers. You were the first person besides Lanyon who met Jekyll and Hyde!

He'd transformed in the darkness, wanting to feel more like himself as the cold began to creep through his suit. The change had warmed him a bit, but he had still shaken like a leaf as the curious winds circled him.

"Do you remember how we got out of that though? How you pulled yourself together all that time ago? I know you can do it again, you just have to take my hands." In the present, something cold brushed past his fingertips, and an invisible but icy grip took his hands.

"Come on, you're halfway there! Remember when we moved you out of that place? Remember when we got your mum a better place to live too? Remember when we got her, and your brother, the help they needed?" he asked, hopefully looking into the shadows.

Slowly, forming like a creature of smoke, Rachel appeared before him in the dark, holding his hands tight like a lifeline. She kept her eyes downcast, "Henry, we got shot at with a _military machine gun._ We could've died." Her voice sounded distant, echoing from everywhere at once, and her form seemed to flicker at the edges like a candle flame.

"Every time we go out to be heroes we could die," he answered, slipping free a hand to lift up her face so that their eyes could meet. "Now, did that scare you?"

"Bloody terrified me," Rachel said softly, looking down again. "I don't, I don't think I'm ready for supervillains."

"And you don't have to be, you're a fantastic, neighborhood ninja." Jekyll put his hand on her shoulder, "That's all some people need remember, just someone to look after them. We're not always going to be saving the world."

He could see the darkness around them fading, getting thinner, vague shapes of Rachel's cluttered bedroom appearing appearing around them. Boxes of knick knacks and gifts shoved against the walls, a bed covered with stuffed animals and books, and so, so many lights. Their glow began to pierce Rachel's shadows and she stepped forward, hugging Jekyll tightly.

"I'm sorry for scaring everyone Henry," she said softly, burying her face. He smiled in relief and returned the hug as the room became brightly lit, "It's quite alright. But what're you sorry for? Bein' scared? There's no reason to be sorry for being scared, you're only human."

"Yeah but I shouldn't be flooding the dormitories with darkness," she mumbled, pulling back, folding her arms sheepishly.

From the hallway, it looked like someone had pulled the plug on a giant, transparent tub of ink. The shadows swirled around and around down some sort of drain, vanishing into Rachel's smudged shadow as the lights in her room glowed to life once more. Luckett smiled, pocketing his hands, "I knew they'd be alright."

The fires died and Sinnett shot him a look, "You did not, you went pale as a ghost when Jekyll jumped in."

Nevertheless, when the last of the darkness faded away, they gave a short applause and cheer, knowing well how scary it could be when one's powers overwhelmed them. Jasper's worried expression bloomed into a smile and he pushed past Luckett to run into the room. "You're okay!" Rachel stumbled as he nearly tackled her in a hug, "I was so worried! Seeing your friend as a shadow blob isn't exactly comforting you know!"

Rachel laughed and hugged him in return, "Come on Cadet! I just needed a minute y'know?"

"A minute, some friends, and a reality check," Jekyll teased, tapping her on the shoulder as she broke the hug with Jasper. Rachel blushed again, mumbling her thanks.

From the doorway, "I've never seen anything like that, and I have seen a number of incredible things." All eyes turned to Morcant, who had a small, curious expression on her face, unreadable. She frowned, "You threw yourself in there, you could've been stuck again, but you did it anyway."

"I've become a lot more selfless since taking up the mantle of Hyde," Jekyll said. He put an arm around Rachel, "In fact, I think that's what happens with most of us."

"You all just, choose to risk your lives for strangers then? For no reason?"

"No reason besides the satisfaction of knowing someone is alive because your action as opposed to inaction," Luckett answered with a smug smile. He glanced to Jasper, "Say, shapeshifter kid, didn't you have something important you wanted to tell the doctor? You came running for help after looking for him."

"Shapeshifter?" Morcant repeated, curious.

Jasper's eyes went wide, "That's right! Thank you Mr. Luckett! Doctor, okay, after messing around with that stone all afternoon and doing some research I found out it's a very old artifact called the Space Singularity and it's one of four but that's why it could teleport and do all that space bending stuff because it literally represents space!"

Something clicked and he looked at Morcant, eyes going even wider. He pulled the Space Singularity from his pocket and ran to her, holding the two stones side by side, not noticing how surprised she seemed to be as well. The two stones glowed in harmony, making a gentle humming noise like an incredibly soft harmonica. When he stepped back he said: "And she's got Matter. We've got Space, she has Matter, where are Energy and Time? Those are the other two, they've got to be somewhere close don't they?"

"Time is safe with my friend Thai, Energy is in the hands of Nova, but how did you learn about that?" Morcant asked, looking worried, curious, and flabbergasted all at once. Jasper blushed, "I uh, found this website, and Mr. Mosley can sense the history of stones an' rocks so he helped a lot."

"Remind me to reward him," Jekyll said, walking closer with Rachel.

"He can, can sense the histories of rocks?" Morcant smiled widely, "All of this because of that detonation? And here I was thinking everyone would die!"

"We're the lucky ones that didn't, lots of people did get sick and mutated in a way that killed them," Rachel said seriously, gesturing to her room as if to say: did you not just see what happened to me?

"And not everyone's powers work very well," Sinnett piped up, gesturing with his hands. "I mean, I can control fire, I can't start it, and I'm still very flammable. Luckett, on the other hand, can start them, but can't control them."

"Helps when a detonation is required but can be a real bugger when you're camping," he said with a grin.

"Doesn't make it any less fascinating," Morcant said, sounding excited.

And the conversation would've continued, if the Space Singularity hadn't suddenly decided it was an alarm clock, because it started beeping and shrieking. Jasper nearly dropped it in shock and everyone backed up. He looked at Morcant, "Is it supposed to do that?"

"No." She flicked her wrist and a small, thin, metal thing peeled itself off of one of the crystal's inner faces, floating through the air into Morcant's hand, carrying the screaming beep with it. She made a fist and there was a puff of smoke, "I thought I sensed something wrong. But why would it only now start making noise?"

There was a moment of silence as they collectively thought it over, again Jasper was the first to speak. "Like a phone. Making noise so you know where to find it! Someone's looking for it!"

"But who?"

And there was an explosion on the surface, over their heads, that made the lights flicker and dust trickle down from the concrete.

"Nova," Jekyll said, scowling and balling his fists.

 


	7. Hitting the Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything falls apart but no one dies.  
> Yay?

Pennebrygg saw the armed trucks on the local security cameras long before they placed the C4 charges on top of the garage. As they pulled into the warehouse, he frantically set the lockdown into motion, mentally initiating three programs and physically starting four others with a level of multitasking that would make any office-worker jealous. The computer screens in the Hub went yellow with alert and every single Lodger received a text with only the word yellow in it. It was short for Code Yellow, a step above Code Red.

Code Red was a lockdown of the facility, everyone was to remain inside and lay low till the danger had passed.

Code Orange was someone needed to go to the ER, thankfully that hadn't been used yet.

Code Yellow _was get out as fast and as silently as you can._

All of the data stored in the computer system was downloaded to a single database the size of a briefcase, which Pennebrygg grabbed as he started to run for a lower level. For a solid thirty seconds before the explosion over the garage, everyone in the Society was running to different rooms. Ten seconds before the explosion had those who lived in the Society with their most important belongings in hand.

When the charges blew, heavy metal doors slammed over the doorways in the Hub, cutting off the emergency exit, the hallways to the cafeteria, gym, dorm and sim lab almost completely. This bought the Lodgers another minute or two, depending on which door the Nova grunts went for first. Behind said doors, they scattered.

Mrs. Cantilupe, an older woman with curly, mad-scientist white hair, goggles and dark lipstick, lead her close friend Lavender to one of the doors she hadn't been shown before. Knowingly, she placed the heaviest weighted dumbbell on a particular tile in the floor and watched it sink about an inch. One of the mirrors along the wall behind the treadmills and workout equipment popped open about an inch.

Lavender, dark wild hair, glasses, curvy and tanned from days training her falcon, grabbed the mirrored and dragged the door open all the way.

Not so far away, something sounded like crunching metal and both women turned to see as a cold wind blew from within the secret passage. Cantilupe scowled, "Lavender, go without me, I'll keep these idiots busy."

"Are you crazy!? They'll catch you, or worse, they'll kill you!" Lavender said, glancing worriedly at the doorways. The exit, and the entrance to the gym, both equally dangerous for different reasons.

"My dear, I've been waiting for a fight like this," she answered with a grin that revealed inhumanly sharp teeth. "Besides, don't you know how hard it is to catch a Cryptid? We've got Jekyll on our side, and Lanyon, if I do get caught, it won't be for long."

"That is, if they do come for you. And if they don't..." Lavender nodded hard, "If they don't, I'm going to save you."

"That's sweet of you Lavender, now go!"

The younger heroine nodded, turning and ducking behind the mirror, pulling it closed behind her and hearing the latch click. Through a tiny slot of one way mirror, she watched the gym, watched Cantilupe as the footsteps got closer.

The dumbbell that had unlocked the passage was thrown carelessly into a pile of weights, and Cantilupe cracked her knuckles. She was stretching her shoulders as the first armed guards entered the room.

"Evening gents," she said with that freakish, crocodile smile, folding her hands behind her back. The men hesitated, but one of them with a vaguely feminine voice raised their gun and said: "Ma'am you're under arrest for suspicious and possibly activity dangerous to the public, put your hands in the air!"

"But of course." And Mrs. Cantilupe raised her hands, approaching the soldiers in an almost nonchalant way. From her vantage point, Lavender could see Cantilupe had used her powers to grow a second pair of arms, both hands of which were now armed with dumbbells, and a tail of some sort, though it was still hidden under her skirt.

"C'mon Mrs. C, don't do something stupid," Lavender whispered in barely a voice as she turned to scale the ladder up to a small tunnel. Ahead, she saw a red light, an exit.

Below, she heard the shouts of a scuffle and started crawling faster down the small passage. Something crashed, Cantilupe shouted in pain, and then silence. Lavender swore under her breath and kept moving, she had to get out.

~

"Three, two, one, heave!" Flowers and Mosley lifted with all their might, shoving Pennebrygg up into the vent as the distant sound of crunching metal echoed through the halls to them. There was a squeak as the technopath pushed open the trapdoor hatch on the roof of the vent to reveal a ladder. As he began to climb, Mosley jumped and grabbed the edge of the vent, pulling himself up and in before offering a hand to Flowers.

She used the hand and her wings to climb into the vest and up the ladder after Pennebrygg while Mosley shut the grate they'd climbed through.

"Mosley come on!" hissed Flowers from up the ladder. He looked up at her and motioned for silence, putting his ear to the vent grate and listening as people burst into the room below, armed with guns. He twisted one of his goggle lenses and it zoomed in, allowing him to clearly pick out the tiny silver logo on their uniforms.

Nova.

~

In the cafeteria, Archer slid his hand along the underside of a booth and found a tiny, nearly impossible to notice switch, clicking it. The booth seat flipped open and he hopped into the hiding space, in the center of which was another trap door. Worriedly, he looked towards the entrance of the room, "C'mon Grif, where are you?"

"Right here mate!" a voice from nowhere said as the sound of footsteps came running in. Griffin materialized before Archer, red in the face and gasping for air, "They're already in the gym, just saw 'em nab Cantilupe. You better get going 'fore they grab you too."

"I'm not leaving without you, come on!" Arched climbed into the space and looked expectantly at Griffin, who rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Please, if anyone should stick around, it should be me! They'll never notice!"

"One of them had Infrared goggles, you'd be spotted like that-" he snapped for effect- "You bloody idiot! Just come on!"

Griffin groaned and climbed into the small space beneath the booth with Archer. Together, they silently lowered the seat back into place, watching through the bottom of the seat as feet in combat boots ran into the room. They were silent, clearly trying to be stealthy, hoping to find someone in here.

The two men watched worriedly as someone came very, very close to the booth, there was a clicking sound like a geiger counter. Did they have a device that detected superhumans? What was it detecting?

Griffin crept closer to the small gap they could see out of, turning invisible so he could go right up to the edge and look out. He motioned with a hand for Archer to get the trap door open and listened.

"What'd they call these things? Ether readers? Sounds like something out of a bad scifi movie," one of the soldiers remarked, sounding like he had a cold. The clicking thing, looking like a metal detector from this angle, passed maybe an inch from Griffin's nose and started shrieking.

Its owner smacked it, "All these things have done is shout at the walls and floor, there's nothing here unless one of them made the chair magic."

There was the sound of a gun being drawn, a pistol likely, as another soldier walked over. "Have you considered, shapeshifter?" Griffin heard the rubber of the booth above creak and turned, kicking Archer out of the way as the soldier fired.

The bullet passed through the seat, through the muscle of Griffin's calf, through the place where Archer's head used to be, and into the trapdoor beneath them. The invisible man covered his mouth and sunk slowly to his knees, bleeding leg stretched out in front of him as he struggled not to swear. Archer looked horrified, and quickly unwound his scarf, to tie it above the gunshot wound, hopefully somewhat staunching the blood flow.

Overhead, the soldier holstered their gun. "Well, the chair ain't someone, 'less I just killed them."

"And you're not worried about it?" the other asked as they started to walk away. The voices faded to echoes from somewhere else in the room, and the hidden superhumans breathed a sigh of relief.

Silently, Archer lifted up the secondary trapdoor and helped Griffin climb down before following down the ladder. This was by far the scariest secret passage, as you had to go deeper underground before you got out, but it was also the only one in this wing.

At the bottom of the ladder, where they were out of earshot, Griffin sat on the dusty, dark concrete and swore violently. Archer fumbled around in the darkness, finding a tiny light switch and turning on the emergency lights, illuminating the foam matress and medical kit stashed down here. "Did it hit bone?"

"You think I can bloody tell if it hit bone? It'd feel better if my leg was just cut off!" Griffin snapped before swearing again. His voice cracked in such a way that suggested he was near to tears from the pain. Archer took the medkit and sat nearer to him, pulling out gauze and bandages. "Well would you stop squirming so I can make sure we don't have to cut off your leg? Please?"

The usually-invisible man glared daggers at him, but stretched out his leg to be patched up. He heard a single burst of gunfire upstairs, and hoped no one was dead.

~

Rachel ran faster along the shadows on the wall, watching the bullet holes appear in the concrete behind her as she ducked into a dark place. In her head, she tallied up how many had gotten caught, a few cadets she didn't know had gotten cornered in one wing of the dorms, then two or three friends that had tried to fight so their friends could get out. Twelve out of twenty two, a hearty blow, and they weren't out of the woods yet.

She had been following a squad escorting Mrs. Cantilupe, Ito, and Doddle up to the surface when one of the soldiers had noticed their shadow had pigtails. Albeit, the gunshots wouldn't hurt her if she was shot as a shadow, but they didn't know that. They also didn't know she could walk on the ceiling and in the vents, best keep it that way.

As a shadow, Rachel snuck after this group up to the warehouse that was being thoroughly searched above. The garage roof had been blown open, crushing the two spare cars that had been parked in there, as well as the bikes. Bright lights cast stark shadows on everything, making it hard for Rachel to stay unnoticed as she slipped between shadows.

She watched worriedly as many of her friends, her allies, were lead into a large black truck with thickly lined walls and benches on either side. For some reason, it reminded her of a prison truck, but her friends certainly weren't getting out of there easily. They were making Ito wear gloves, the thin rubber kind surgeons wore, and it was melting onto their hands.

"We were told there were supposed to be a bunch of superhumans and a doctor here," one person said to the other as they kept watch outside the "hidden door" on the side of the warehouse. Rachel's attention was pulled away from the truck to these strangers. "How many did we get? Twelve, and none of them are all that impressive!"

"Speak for yourself, I heard the old lady had spider arms when they caught her! And that the enbie made a flashbomb in her hands," their buddy said, sounding impressed and interested. Rachel frowned, a silhouette against the wall behind them as she slipped into one of their shadows. "Say, did your reader act all weird?"

"The entire time. Unless they've got super powered rats or something, I think this place is just irradiated with this Ether stuff."

"Weird, cuz mine's going wacko right now." He held it up, checking the dial and Rachel figured it was high time to hit the road and began to sneak away, watching the stranger smack it as it went silent.

She shadow-climbed up the wall and went back inside the warehouse, looking around for someone who might be the leaderly type from up in the rafters. An individual in a suit was standing at the edge of the rubble that had fallen into the garage, talking with someone in just a little less armor than the rest. The shadow darted across the floor and hid under this individual, listening intently.

"Everyone is out then?"

"Yes sir, and as you said, no room was left unturned."

"Good. Hopefully we can collapse this building and blame it on a sinkhole, hide the evidence before the police start looking for the missing people." The mastermind took a phone from his pocket, "Alas, I won't be here to see the demolition. Wait until the hazmat team has done a sweep of the building first, we want no evidence left, at all."

"Yes sir." The second in command turned and walked to leave the warehouse, unaware he had two shadows.

The second shadow took off at a sprint once they were out in the night, running for a forgotten, rusted shipping container maybe thirty meters from the warehouse. She slipped in through a crack and materialized, making the Lodgers hiding inside jump in surprise.

Rachel put a finger to her lips, then pointed at Mosley, who was sitting with his legs crossed in one corner. "They've got radars that look for us, so lay low but move soon. They're gonna demo the base, so Mosley, you gotta block off the entrances now." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard her and nodded slowly. Getting to his feet, he walked to where the tunnel from below broke through the concrete and earth.

He placed his hand flat against the exposed earth, and a deep rumble shook the earth. Shouts of panic came from outside and the warehouse could be heard creaking unstably as the ground shook violently. Beneath the earth, large slabs of stone and concrete began to slide into place, hiding the entrances and exits of the Society, barring off the garage completely from the surface. In a matter of minutes, half the warehouse had collapsed and the Society's base was completely cut off from the surface. No one had been hurt, but sounds of confusion came from outside.

But Mosley was unconscious and being held up by a worried Flowers and Pennebrygg.

As the noise outside began to fade, their cell phones went off with gentle _pings_ and flashing lights.

A message, from Hyde, that to untrained eyes looked like a single, rainbow smile emoji. Each of them that could replied individually with certain symbols they'd picked to represent them, showing Jekyll exactly who remained. On one hand, it was a slight relief to know that ten of the Lodgers had made it, but it was still disheartening when twelve codes didn't get sent in return.

Within an hour, the Nova invasion had fled already and the pier was silent, abandoned. The police showed up and shrugged it off, saying the building had just collapsed.

Only the naive would assume they'd been left without watch.

Yet somehow, those that remained managed to sneak out of the shipyard without being spotted in any sense of the word, and scattered into the city. Most of them went home, but those that couldn't headed downtown.

Rachel had met up with Jasper and Sinnett on sixth street, giving them an update that the Society was secure and Pennebrygg made it out with all their information. She was only mostly disappointed that the same information had already been exchanged through texts. Likewise, a meet up, somewhere for those with nowhere to go.

~

Lanyon was sitting cross legged on his couch, two white headed pins sticking out off his mouth, a needle and reinforced thread in hand. The TV was playing some bad horror movie, but he wasn't watching it, focusing instead on making sure that the emblem he'd made for Jasper would stay on the fabric. Ironing it on hadn't worked, because the melted glue didn't stick to the specially designed fabric.

Mercy be on the next person who called it spandex. Could spandex block bullets? Could spandex be mostly acid proof, retain body heat, be incredibly stretchy and totally fireproof? Could spandex change shape to fit any body type including most animals? No, no it couldn't.

Any wise seamstress would be using a sewing machine, but the sewing machine couldn't handle the extra strength thread Lanyon had created to keep the costumes together so they didn't fall apart after a fight. It was almost as time consuming to continually repair them as it was to just sew it right the first time so damnit he was going to do it right! His fingers were cramped, and his jaw hurt from holding the pins in his mouth, but he was bored as hell and had nothing better to do.

He didn't notice someone knocking at the door until they rang the doorbell five times in a row, and only then stood to answer. He glanced at the clock as he walked, "Eight o'clock, not too late, about time he got here."

Lanyon looked out the peephole then opened the door, "Henry! It's good to-" then he saw the morose Lodgers and a stranger in blue standing behind him, "Wait what happened?"

"Can we come in? Talk in private?" Jekyll said worriedly, arms folded against the cold. Lanyon blinked and nodded, opening the door wider so they could all walk in. He did a mental tally, Jasper, Rachel, Sinnett, Luckett, and the stranger in blue who looked familiar for some reason. These were the Lodgers that lived at the Society, the ones who had nowhere else to go.

Only as he shut the door did he realize that she matched the description of the hero that'd saved Jekyll back after the detonation. He'd imagined her, prettier, less like a wolf, she was more intimidating in real life.

"What happened to the Society?" he asked, turning the lock in the door, just in case.

"We got caught, that's what," Luckett said, throwing a hand in the air in frustration. "Some Nova scientist or something put a tracking marker on the fancy gem Ito stole offa Miss Lucy's armor and they found us with our guard down after Rachel was in a spot of trouble!"

"But what happened?" Lanyon insisted, looking sharply at Jekyll. Henry sighed, "Twelve of them got taken, the entrances are blocked off and the Society is sealed underground."

A moment of silence passed.

"Are, you, serious."

It took a lot to make Robert Lanyon mad, he was cool headed in traffic, hadn't lost in front of the police, but this was different. It had taken a prank from Griffin tearing a prototype suit in half and spilling Lanyon's tea for him to raise his voice a little in anger.

Now his voice got higher pitched and squeaky, now his hands bunched into claws and he shouted: "God I was going to tell you that Nova was shady and nooo they come in and ruin everything before I even get a chance to warn you and now aaaaaall that work is buried because Nova wanted us out of the way for some reason?" He groaned in anguish and covered his face, "This is ridiculous!"

"Work? What work?" asked Morcant, raising a scarred eyebrow. Lanyon shot her a glare, "The suits, the suits!! Twenty four super suits, each made to fit the wearer's fashion sense, powers, and dangers present! Each one that took days to make and weeks to perfect and-"

"And Pennebrygg got out with all our data intact," Jekyll said, taking his friend's shoulder. "The evacuation was successful, only a few people got caught, well, twelve, but still! Almost everyone made it out okay!"

"And now Nova's got them right? Why on earth would they have any reason to take, protect, or even respect those they took! Jekyll they want us superhumans for something but I don't know what!" Lanyon gestured vaguely at the others as he spoke, "After you left they just, drove up and took Lucy! And the police just let them! This is ridiculous!"

"Nova has Lucy then?" Morcant asked, stepping forward.

"At the very least they know where she is," Lanyon huffed, folding his arms. "Bet you they were after that stone."

"You mean the one Jasper has in his hoodie?" Rachel deadpanned, pointing her thumb at him. "The one that had the tracking device on it? Oh no I'm sure that's not what they're looking for."

"You still have it? What if it's still being tracked!" Lanyon squawked, grabbing at his hair. Eyes wide with panic. Jekyll put a calming hand on his shoulder, "We weren't followed and we destroyed the tracker! Robert please, relax! We need your help."

"What can i help with?? I'm a medic not a fighter! If you're going to fight Nova count me out!"

"No we need to get in, close to the Core. That thing's being powered by a stone like Morcant's, like Lucy's, but with energy powers," Jekyll deadpanned. Lanyon slowly relaxed, "You're, going to take out the Core?"

"Actually at this point the plan's still a work in progress on that front," he answered, running a hand through his hair. "But! Someone needs to get in and find the plans for the Core, so we can know how to safely get its power source out so we don't have a repeat of the detonation. And we need to go in and save everyone which is actually the most important so we'll start with that."

"Henry, you're rambling, what do you want to do?" Lanyon asked in a flat tone of voice.

"Rescue the lodgers," he said, faking a smile. "I just have no idea how!" Everyone else in the room groaned except Morcant, Jekyll shot them a glare. "Oh shush, like any of you have a better plan."

There was a long moment of silence where nobody spoke. Lanyon, still silent, shook his head and walked into the kitchen. "Anybody want a drink? Sounds like you've all had a long night." Rachel and Jasper were the only ones to deny, getting soda instead of alcohol. Lanyon's show continued to chatter in the background, long forgotten as everyone scrambled to come up with a plan over various drinks.

Jasper took a seat on the couch, drawing his knees up to his chest in thought, thinking hard, heart and head still buzzing with the faded adrenaline of the escape. His eyes drifted around the room to the curious faces he'd already come to view as friends, and also Ms. Morcant. Rachel met his gaze for a second and offered a reassuring smile, which did a little to lift his mood.

And then his gaze fell to the suit Lanyon had started working on again, needles sticking out of his mouth as he sewed, deep in thought.

"Whose suit is that Mr. Lanyon?" asked Jasper, tilting his head a little, wanting a distraction from the doom of their situation..

"Yours actually," he answered, sounding distracted. "Can't use normal thread cuz it isn't stretchy enough for you changing shape so I gotta sew it by hand cuz the stretchy stuff doesn't fit in the machine and-" he went on muttering about something before continuing to stitch in silence. Jasper felt his face get hot, he was going to have a super suit?

As in, a real super suit?

He smiled a little and stared down at his shoes, that was something nice at least.

These last twenty four hours had been one hell of a ride hadn't they? First a move to a new dorm, a nice one, then everyone getting arrested and getting sent on the run, but now surrounded by other people with powers. He didn't need to hide.

But he also didn't feel the need to hide, not here. Before he'd wanted to turn into a mouse and run off, but, no he felt fine just being Jasper. Which was a first in a long time, since he'd last been to Nova.

And then, an idea.

Well, a few ideas really.

 


	8. Catching Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Society pulls itself together, the world moves on not knowing that a plan is in development.

Emma couldn't remember the last time she took some time for herself.

She was what most people called, work-oriented, but that could easily be stretched to work-obsessed. It was less that she wanted only to work, but there was little less in her life than the paperwork Nova gave her to fill out, type up, data to analyze, etc.

Didn't make it any less exhausting, and there were a thousand things to fill the time with, but none of them wasted time quite so well as Lucy.

Emma had been with Nova for four years after they'd found her, unconscious and injured in an alleyway, memory gone. Simon Stride had stood up for, advocated for her employment, and over the last four years he'd helped her rise through the ranks. He was, a good friend, even if he thought of himself as more than that.

Then came the Detonation, a year after Emma had joined the company it all came crumbling down. And Lucy was found in the wreckage, comatose, a massive chunk of shrapnel in her chest. She lost her memory completely after the event, and someone had worked very hard to erase her, because Nova couldn't find out who she was.

Emma volunteered to help her, having been in a similar situation, and they became Jane Does together.

Mr. Stride had helped Lucy settle in again, giving her various small jobs at Nova to support them until she figured out who she had been. As time went on however, and as the two searched with the resources they were given, it became more and more obvious that their memories weren't going to come back on their own. So they'd started from scratch, did a lot of reading, a lot of practicing, a lot of movie watching, a lot of working together to figure out what they were doing.

Emma and Lucy were a team, and after three years of knowing each other, they were more than that.

And now, movie night.

Normally they sat on the right side of the couch, Emma laying on top of Lucy so they could share the popcorn bowl easily, but since Lucy's left side was all sorts of sore, they switched sides for the night. Lucy was a fast healer, but then again they both were, and she'd be fine in a week or two, but she'd been grumpy all afternoon about the "little cookie who thought she was slick enough to stick me with a couple daggers."

Of course, then Emma had to remind her about how she had, to everyone else, been robbing a truck full of gold and precious jewels.

"Okay, but daggers? Really? What century are we in?"

"Would you rather she had shot you like our lovely superiors almost did?" Emma countered, popping a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"I mean, kind of? At least I know bullets aren't poisoned."

"They weren't poisoned Luce."

"Maybe it was hemlock, they can't trace it and I'll die in my sleep."

"We both know hemlock is an incredibly painful death, the knives weren't poisoned." Lucy huffed and put her arm around Emma, pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head. "Alright, if you say so."

They sat in content silence, watching an honestly pathetic romantic comedy movie when suddenly Emma's phone began to ring. Both women made noises of disgust, but Lucy paused the movie as Emma stood to get her cell from the charger. Her pajamas shuffled softly and the phone beeped as she answered the call. Her voice changed, becoming that monotonous, robotic tone that service workers use when talking to customers who try to return prom dresses at hardware stores.

"Emma Carew speaking," she addressed.

" _Miss Carew, I do realize tonight is the first time you have taken time for yourself in the last two weeks, but it is crucial you and Miss Harriss report to Nova at once. We have detained a number of vigilantes and were hoping you'd point out which of them were the ones who took Miss Harris's teleportation device."_

Emma visibly wilted, looking helplessly over at Lucy. "Sir, Lucy and I were hoping to have some, recovery time, it's nearly midnight and-"

" _Very well, but you will come in tomorrow yes?"_

"Yes sir," she answered, sighing as the line went dead. Slowly, she set the phone down, trying to suppress how furious she was as she turned and walked back to the couch, only to pause her steps and just stand there.

"The boss again?" asked Lucy, sitting up a bit on the couch and sounding an innocent sort of curious. "What'd he want?" Emma's hands balled into fists on each side of her, but she folded her arms to hide them, "He wants us, you, to come in tomorrow night and pick out the heroes who took your teleportation device."

"Device, it was a magic rock," she mumbled, throwing popcorn in her mouth.

"Doesn't matter that you got hurt," Emma said bitterly, "They think they own our time." And suddenly, she was really frustrated. "I don't get it! Suddenly he's obsessed with catching these super humans, _why?_ "

"Oh Emma." She reached up and touched her face, fingertips coming away wet, was she crying? Lucy stood and limped over, hugging Emma tightly and gently rubbing a circle in her back. "Hey, hey you okay? What's wrong?"

"I just, all the things Nova makes us do, you got _stabbed_ for them and it still isn't enough! I try to to the best I can for them and it isn't _enough!_ " she exclaimed, burying her face in Lucy's shoulder, starting to feel overwhelmed as her mind began to spin. Lucy hugged her tighter, "It's okay, it's okay, they'll let go of us in time, Mr. Utterson promised. But they've given us a lot we, we _do_ kind of owe them. Doesn't make it any less stupid how they treat you."

"You got stabbed Lucy," Emma mumbled tiredly. "I'm mad about how they treat _you_."

"Then we're both mad at everything and the movie is playing without us." She lifted Emma's head with a finger and smiled gently, "Now, do I have to get you ice cream or make out with you so that you'll smile again? So we don't have Thursday off anymore, we go in, I point out a few freaks and we come home. No problem."

"I doubt their _freaks_ ," Emma said, smiling a tiny bit. "They're still, people after all. Would you call Spiderman a freak?"

"Yes, I would. I'd also call our neighbor with the gauges the size of snowglobes a freak," Lucy teased, kissing the tip of Emma's nose. "Mr. Stride's a neat freak, you're a work freak, and you're _my_ freak."

"Lucyyyyy."

"Hey! You're smiling! Yay! One point to Lucy!" She took Emma's hands, "Now, can you forget that our boss is a prick for a while and come watch Fifty First Dates with me? Please?"

Emma's eyes went down to their hands and she smiled a little more, "Sure..."

~

It was three AM when they finally came up with a plan. The Lodgers that had made it had checked in over phone call, and Jekyll had made a list on a whiteboard in Lanyon's office of who they had, and what they could do.

Mosley could make earthquakes and bend earth, Jasper could become any animal, Rachel could walk in shadow and was proficient with blades, Lavender spoke to animals, Sinnett could control fires but not start them, Griffin could turn himself and others invisible, Flowers could control insects and see through their eyes, Archer never missed a shot, Pennebrygg could communicate with machines like no one else, Luckett could start fires and make things explode, Jekyll could become Hyde and leap extraordinary distances, Lanyon could heal and sew if necessary, and Morcant could make anything into anything else.

But the question was, who would do what?

Morcant had left at about midnight, saying this was no place for her, but that she would be back by morning to see if Jekyll had "decided". When pressed for answers, he explained that Morcant wanted the center of the Core, and Jasper explained why. And thus, they now had two objectives. Free the kidnapped Lodgers, their friends, and disable the Core safely to retrieve the Energy Singularity.

Leaving the only question, how?

Jasper had sat and stewed on his idea, but compared to the Mission Impossible that they seemed to be facing, it almost seemed stupid, crazy even, but not crazy enough that it just might work.

It was midnight when Lanyon stood abruptly from where he now sat, folded like a pretzel in his chair, bent over Jasper's suit, holding the finished project out before him, examining it. He nodded firmly and tossed it to Jasper, who was cross-legged on the den's couch.

"Try it on later, but I think it's a bit late. I've got two guest rooms and a foldable couch-bed in here so I'll let you all figure out who's sleeping where, but we ought to get sleep if we're going to stage some big rescue mission," he said, stretching and cracking his stiff knuckles.

"Wait, two guest rooms and a third bed, where's Jekyll staying?" asked Rachel, frowning. Lanyon raised a brow, "We're old friends, we've shared a bed before Ms. Pidgley. Be _sides_ we need to _talk_." His tone of voice implied it would be a very serious talk.

There was a clatter as Jekyll dropped a whiteboard marker onto the tray with a sigh of frustration, "I wish I could argue but you're right. We, we can't keep going like this, at least I'm exhausted."

"I was controlling a fire for half an hour, I agree," Sinnett said tiredly, spinning lazily in a desk chair.

"Bed, pleeeease," Rachel chorused, sprawled out on a couch against one wall, leaning on Jasper, her feet on Luckett's lap while he napped. Lanyon motioned, leading the way down a hall and Rachel nudged Luckett awake. Jasper remained in the den, taking Rachel's sprawled place on the unfolded couch, deciding to take one for the team and stay there. Besides, he could sleep on the floor as a dog if worse came to worst.

Jekyll remained staring at the whiteboard covered with abstract notes, scribbled sketches of the Nova Core and the building, hands folded behind his back. Eventually, he just hung his head. "Jasper, I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

The boy looked up, "What? No it's, I, it's not your fault." He smiled a little, "The last twenty four hours have been, incredible."

"Has it only been that long? It feels like eight chapters have passed."

"What?"

"Don't worry about it." He looked back at Jasper with a small frown, "I just, I wish we could've gotten the time to train you like I wanted. Tried out different suit prototypes, figured out who your best team would be in the field but, nope!" He sighed and folded his arms, "We face our first vaguely supervillain and get scattered like rats. No offense."

"None taken." Jasper stuck his hands in his pockets out of habit, and felt the cool stone of the Space Singularity brush his knuckles. He pulled it out, "I'm, guessing you purposefully left this out of your equation for getting into the Core."

"The last thing we want is to have three of those things in the same building." Jekyll looked to the board. "I don't doubt it's like three parts of a machine. Using all of them at once would grant 'unlimited power' or something. And besides that, Nova shouldn't have it again."

"Too much of a risk then."

"Indeed."

He reached for the marker again, but let his hand fall slack to his side as he hung his head again. "I feel like this is all my fault."

"I had the stone all afternoon and I didn't notice the tracking device," Jasper countered, walking over and looking at the board as well. "If anything, it's my fault, I didn't look hard enough, didn't see everything I needed to, I didn't even help when the soldiers came."

"You couldn't have known, it's not your fault."

"Then it _definitely_ isn't your fault Doctor."

"Please just, call me Henry."

There was a brisk knock at the door of the den which made them both jump, whirling around to see Lanyon standing there with a raised eyebrow. "Henry, bed, _now._ Your insomniac arse is not going to help you figure out how to help everyone. Jasper, I'll be back in a minute to help you with the couch but-"

"I'm coming I'm coming," Jekyll huffed, turning and walking towards the door. Jasper looked again at the board as the two left, they were missing something, something small. If only he could figure out _what._

There was the sound of fabric and he turned, Robert was lifting the cushions from the couch and setting them aside. With ease, the couch became a bed with a thin, creaky mattress and musty smelling sheets. Lanyon ran a hand through his hair, "Well uh, it won't be much but, I don't know what else to do. Unless you want to bunk with Rachel and I mean-"

"No no no it's okay, I'll be fine," Jasper said, feeling his face get hot. He cleared his throat, "Uh, on another note, what should we do with this?" He held up the Space Singularity, and Lanyon walked over to get a closer look.

He picked up the stone from Jasper's hands, tracing his fingers over the smooth surface. "To think, all this trouble for a few stones like this. Kind of ridiculous when you think about it."

"You didn't see what Lucy could do, what Morcant could do, and think about how much power comes out of the Core, they're insanely powerful," Jasper said, thoughtful. He avoided Lanyon's gaze when he looked up, "Look um, thanks for saving my life last night. I never, thanked you for that."

"Just doing my job," Lanyon remarked, tossing the gem back to him. "Besides, what sort of doctor would I be if I'd just let you die when I could save your life then and there? Kind of stupid if I hadn't helped."

Jasper smiled a bit, "Yeah I guess. Um, so, you're the Tailor, why did you stop saving people at night?"

Lanyon rubbed his neck, and when he spoke he was somber. "Well, I never was really the hero type, it's just not my thing. I'm better at being the man in the chair really, the backup. But hey, if I can do good by staying home and making costumes and patching up my friends, I'll be happy enough." He waved to Jasper as he turned to walk out, "Goodnight, don't worry about breakfast in the morning, help yourself if I'm not up."

Jasper nodded, pouting a little bit as he was left alone with a super powered gem in his hands. He sighed, glanced at the board again, and set the Singularity aside.

On a whim, he picked up a marker and doodled, drawing a tiny mouse with his hair in the corner. Then he considered his idea again, drawing the mouse in someone's pocket, Jekyll's pocket.

He reread the list of superhumans that made it out, and suddenly his idea began to snowball, gaining more ideas and parts as he began to scribble on the board with new energy. They wouldn't need everyone, if things went well, Mosley at least wouldn't have to help and could keep their data safe somewhere else if things got worse.

It took the clock in the den ringing three am for Jasper to realize he'd gotten a little carried away. The board was now covered with diagrams and suggestions and his eyes were starting to droop. He yawned deeply and backed up, dropping onto the squeaky futon bed and staring at the board. A smile pulled onto his face and he flopped back, curling up to sleep.

~

"We're going to rescue the Lodgers, we'll get the stone, and then we're coming clean to the public," Lanyon said, sitting cross-legged on his bed, jabbing a finger into his pillow for effect. Jekyll curled up more under his blanket, "Robeeert, I, if I do that, I'll never be able to patrol, I'll be expected to start working professionally and wear a tracker and have a team... I won't be able to do my own thing anymore..."

"But by owning up to it, you'll be better able to protect the Society," Robert insisted, curling up his legs. "If Nova sees they have you to deal with, and the public sees that you're a good man who's behind all of this, it'll be harder for them to twist our words into painting the Society as some kind of, I don't know, as some kind of threat! When people know the truth-"

"They'll want more answers!" Jekyll sat up, angrily ruffling his hair until he looked more like a pomeranian. "Robert, if we go announcing how we're super heros, or how I'm a superhero I guess, people will want to know how! And the how will vanish once return the Singularity to Emma and Morcant and _they'll_ be hunted down because how can we trust total strangers with such powerful weapons unchecked and-" Lanyon grabbed his shoulders roughly, forcing him to freeze.

"Henry, breathe." He nodded slowly, taking a deep breath and realizing there was a hum in his chest. He looked down at his hands, noting how his clothes seemed larger, he'd transformed while panicking, lovely.

"The changes, are they getting out of control?" Robert asked, looking at him sternly. Henry pouted, "No. I'm, I'm just more stressed than I've been in a long time. Do, do you want me to turn back?"

Robert tilted his head a little, "No. But I need you to focus, you get all twitchy and scatterbrained as Hyde. Take this one step at a time. If we get caught trying to rescue the others, you can reveal yourself and use it as leverage. The point is, you can't keep this secret forever with how active a hero you are. Your two lives are going to crash together soon and you won't be able to lie your way out of it."

Henry sighed deeply, practically laying his head in the hands of his friend, "I know, believe me I know. I just, have this sickening feeling something horrible is happening to the others, or _will_ happen to them if we don't get them out." His hand went to his shoulder, giving it a rub as if to ease some sort of ache.

Robert took his hands back, "You're worried they'll be hurt?"

"What else do scientists do when they're given something fantastic? They pick it apart. I mean, that's what _we_ did when we found out about our powers." He gestured vaguely, hands moving in a jerky, angered way. "I'm just, I'm concerned that, whoever or whatever happens, they won't be treated like they're human."

"The same will happen to us by your logic," Robert said, frowning.

"Except we have _reputations_." He sighed bitterly, "We'd only get out because we're rich and famous and the world can't afford to lose us. No one will miss a little cook girl, or a college student, or an electrician, or a plumber, they could all vanish and the words _missing_ would be slapped over their name and they'd be forgotten."

"Henry."

"No one cares about the little people, that's why we've got to do this! Because no one else will!" he snapped, burying his face in his hands, knees drawn up to his chest, sheets tangled around him, nearly tying him up. Again, Robert grabbed his shoulders, but this time pulling him into a hug.

They sat in quiet for a moment and slowly Henry returned the hug.

Robert nodded a little, "I don't know how you'll get us out of this one Henry, but I believe you can do it."

"That makes one of us," he mumbled, squeezing his friend tighter.

~

Jasper woke up to the sound of footsteps and the creak of the bed. It was still dim, but clearly morning, so he sat up with a yawn and looked around. To his surprise, Rachel sat at the foot of the bed, staring at the whiteboard now covered with his notes.

"Rachel?" She blinked, snapping out of some sort of thoughts before turning to face him. "Oh uh, hey, good morning. Um, I'll just-"

"Are you okay?" he asked, stretching and rolling his head on his shoulders. Rachel sighed, "No, not really. I woke up early because of nerves and I just haven't been able to go back to sleep. I came back to, look over the notes, see if I could come up with anything but I saw your plan, it's kind of brilliant."

A red glow flushed into Jasper's cheeks, but it was too dim to be able to tell. "Wow I, thank you. I just kind of, went nuts, it's not super impressive."

"Don't sell yourself short! We should make use of our allies while we have them and our friends have powers, Jekyll didn't consider that, but you did which is, impressive." She chuckled tiredly, "God I hope that made sense."

"It did," Jasper squeaked. When she looked at him, he hid his face, which made her giggle again. "Don't be so embarrassed! You're clever, and I'm thankful you found me this afternoon, I was beginning to think I'd screwed myself over."

He scoot closer, still knowing his face was pink. "You, did that to yourself?"

"Not on purpose, but yeah." She smiled at him, "I'm glad we got to meet Jasper. But I wish-"

"It hadn't happened this way? That seems to be everyone's consensus," he interrupted, smirking. They heard footsteps and saw Lanyon walk past the door, dressed in a bathrobe, yawning tiredly. The house around them began to wake up and Rachel leaned on Jasper, "You're going to explain all this?"

"Well I _was_ hoping to have some help refining it, and also breakfast so..." He trailed off, feeling his face get hot again. But he was glad to be a pillow, if that's what was needed. He didn't have the most useful powers, but he'd become a hero to help people right?

Helping in a small way was good enough.

Besides, if the others thought his plan was a good idea, he'd be helping a whole lot of others very soon.

~

Simon Stride was shaving when he received a call from his boss.

He put it on speakerphone, "Stride speaking."

" _Simon, would you kindly explain why twelve volunteers are waiting in the anti-radiation chamber downstairs without my say so?"_ Gabriel Utterson asked, sounding worried instead of irritated. Stride smiled to himself, but his voice was muted when he spoke. "It's simple sir, they're all victims of the Detonation and we were hoping to compare whatever damage was done to them to the effects of the Nova Poisoning, simple really."

" _And you didn't think to run this by me because...?"_ Stride grinned again, tapping his straight razor on the edge of the sink, "I didn't think it would be much of a concern, it's only a survey sir."

" _Then why are they under maximum security info shields? And why are there guards around their waiting room? And, most importantly, why is there a note that says they're to stay in the lead lined chamber intended for radiation analysis?"_

"Why, because it cuts them off from their power source," Stride muttered before raising his voice. "Because we don't want any energy contamination from being near the Core. It's, to prevent unnecessary radiation, sir."

" _Again, why did you not ask for confirmation?_ "

"Emma confirmed it for me sir. Though, I'm afraid she's taken ill to help Miss Harris. They both asked to not be disturbed," Stride lied smoothly as he dabbed his face dry.

" _Ah, I see. Give her my regards if you speak with her, but I want to speak to you when you come in today, understood?_ "

"Of course sir."

 


	9. Teamwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper explains his brilliant plant, Emma and Lucy get ready for work, life goes on.

[Spiritoflondon - _meet me at my place, two hours, bring your hats_ ] Sent on: 10:23 am

[i wish i was invisible - _what's the occasion?_ ] Sent on: 10:28 am

[schmetterling - _is everything okay?_ ] Sent on 10:28 am

[Spiritoflondon - _we're planning a dnd campaign and doing character dev_ ] Sent on 10:29 am

[Spiritoflondon - _we want everyone in on it ;3_ ] Sent on 10:29 am

[CatNip - _And we're not worried about curfew becaaaaause??_ ] Sent on 10:32 am

[Spiritoflondon - _oh please Lav, we're grown adults, we can have a party and no one can stop us._ ] Sent on 10:33 am

[Spiritoflondon - _more importantly rob found his old cleric character and I need to run a campaign idea by y'all. Just come!!!!!!!!!!!_ ] Sent on 20:34 am

[Hawkeye Ripoff - _should I bring my set stuff or...?_ ] Sent on 10:38 am

[Spiritoflondon - _Archie, c'mon, you know me, I got the goods and if you_ insist _on costumes, Rob has those. Just get your butts ready!!!_ ] Sent on 10:39 am

Jekyll set his phone down and stood, walking to the desk of his own laboratory. It would've been normal, if he hadn't been sitting on the sideways on the wall where a number of faint, sock-shaped footprints were left behind from pacing in the past. He hopped off the wall, landed on his hands, and flipped backwards onto his feet like a gymnast.

" _Doctor Jekyll, Robert has arrived with Miss Pidgely, Misters Kaylock, Luckett and Sinnett, they've got quite a few packages. Should I tell them where you are?_ "

"Send Robert, Jasper and Rachel in, but have them leave the boxes in the dining room," Jekyll said, motioning nonchalantly at the door as he rolled his head on his shoulders. "Tell Luckett and Sinnett the kitchen is open but not to light anything on fire."

His lab looked like an explosion of papers and glass, surfaces covered with every manner of scribbled notes and half filled beakers of chemicals. Shelves lined one wall, each bearing a heavy load of jars and boxes, empty and full bottles of dangerous or benign substances. Some of them had green tape on them, implying that they were from Mx. Ito and not completely natural. Scattered around the room were stools seated before small experiments, gadgets and half finished machinery, all meant to make something or other.

A central desk in the wide square room was covered with a blue screen that gave off a faint white glow. It glowed a brighter green as he approached, two small antenna like devices sticking up from the corners and shining light on the center of the screen. Jekyll placed his hand flat against it and it glowed blue as it unlocked; small holographic icons, from games to programs, documents and blueprints appeared before him in a panoramic display.

Behind, the glass door squeaked as Lanyon pushed it open, a suitcase clicking behind him, followed shortly by Jasper and Rachel. Lanyon, who'd seen the lab before, nonchalantly pushed aside a few papers and set the suitcase down in the open space, glancing over at Jekyll as he brought up an image on the holographic desk.

The image stretched into a 3D render of the outside of the Nova Corp. building and Jekyll made a gesture, "Jasper, could you come here?"

Jasper blinked, distracted from the glowing fluid in a flash that was mixing gently on a table top, and jogged over. His eyes got even wider at the site of the holographic desk and he stammered for something to say, to express how impressive it was, but the determined look on Jekyll's face made him stop. "Yes sir?"

Jekyll handed him a pen, "Your plan, draw it. Tap this button if you want to go to the next step, this one if you want to make a symbol, ask Poole if you need anything else."

"Oh! Um, do we, have a blueprint of the building?" asked the shapeshifter hopefully, frowning a little bit as he looked at the render.

"No, we don't. But I know that the offices, conference rooms, and computer servers are located up here-" he traced a circle around the upper stories of the building, a circle of red light following his fingertip. Jasper blinked, staring as Jekyll stood and hurried to speak with Rachel and Lanyon, mumbling a tiny: "wooow" before setting to work.

They'd talked about his plan over a rushed breakfast, no one in the mood to sleep in or waste time, Jekyll frantically communicating with the rest of the Lodgers who had not been captured and telling them where to go. Everyone had so far agreed to arrive at Jekyll's penthouse, but spaced out so it didn't attract attention.

"Did you bring what I asked you?" Lanyon smirked and opened the suitcase, "Of course!" Inside was the Space Singularity nestled safely stop Lanyon's newest Tailor costume. He shoved all of that aside and pulled out what looked like a large, clunky gun with a coil of rope, grinning smugly. "You mean this ditty?"

Jekyll grinned, "The thread, did it work as a replacement for the wire when made into a rope?"

Behind them, Rachel poked at a glass and watched it wobble unstably. Lanyon twirled the grappling hook, "Hell yeah it does! Our fabric is practically knife proof, doesn't tear, holds its shape remarkably well _and_ can hold my body weight with ease." He offered it to Jekyll, who tested the weight of it in his hand before turning and firing.

The spike of the grappling hook shot through the screen on an open window and the winch began to pull, locking onto the window sill. It didn't move and no matter how much he tugged on the rope, even with Layon pulling too, it didn't so much as tremble.

Before Jekyll could comment on the remarkable strength, there was a crash as Rachel fumbled with an empty beaker and dropped it, making everyone jump in surprise. As she apologized and began picking up the pieces, Jekyll forced himself to relax, causing the silver hairs that had spontaneously sprung into his hair faded back to brown. Lanyon put a hand on his shoulder as he pressed a button on the grappling hook, the hook itself shooting back and clicking into place.

"Henry, are you okay?" Robert asked, frowning in motherly concern. He knew Henry very, very well, well enough to know that when his emotions got the better of him, he was more likely to become Hyde, even unintentionally. He knew that, if they were watching a sad movie, Henry would go into the theater Jekyll, and come out a tear-streaked Hyde.

"I'm fine," Jekyll lied, smiling at his old friend reassuringly. Truth was, he was a hairpin trigger away from ditching the doctor facade and running circles on the ceiling. He couldn't stand to stay still, his hands were shaking when not moving, spurred by the nervous energy that he didn't know what was going to happen to all the friends that were now trapped somewhere in Nova.

Hell they didn't even know if they were at the new Energy Center, but considering it was there that most of Nova's new laboratories were and it was the closest place they could stash a dozen people, it was the most likely option.

God he hoped they were alright.

Jekyll started again when Lanyon touched his shoulder, "I'm fine! I'm, worried, that's all."

Lanyon frowned in such a way that meant he didn't believe, but didn't ask anymore. With a click, Jekyll put the grappling hook on his belt of gadgets, newly made smoke bombs and flashbangs, electrical charges to overload keypads, everything a superhero could need.

He motioned for Rachel, "I've got something for you Rachel, would you please stop fidgeting with my experiment?" She nodded, slowly placing the test tube back among its brethren before trailing after the doctor as he walked across the lab.

They passed behind Jasper, and Rachel noted how ardently he was at work, how many blue colored notes he'd made on the hologram, but then her attention turned to a small device Jekyll was offering her. "I had been, hoping to give it to your for Christmas, but I wouldn't feel safe asking you to do any sort of incredibly dangerous mission without a way out."

"Looks like a watch," she remarked with a frown, offering her wrist for him to put it on. Jekyll laughed nervously, "Well, that was what the design was based on."

The straps wrapped around the base of Rachel's wrist and the center of her palm, placing a small canister on the back of her hand. Jekyll adjusted the straps, placing a button in her palm that was just low enough that it wouldn't be pressed when Rachel made a fist. Curious, she examined the small device.

"It shoots tiny, electrically charged clusters that stick to devices and overload the circuit with micro electromagnetic pulses, thus deactivating the machine or lights," Jekyll explained, smiling a little. "You simply aim, and press the button."

Rachel grinned devilishly and aimed at Lanyon, pressing the button before Jekyll could protest. Lanyon straightened as if he'd been stuck with a poker, shouting in surprise, but not otherwise injured. He looked back and glared, seeing the two of them laughing like children as he rubbed a stinging spot on his back.

"Good for startling enemies, and taking out lights," Jekyll finished with a chuckle, folding his arms. Rachel looked at him, her smile dropping, "What, think I can't make the jump to small shadows?"

"No I just, want you to have some extra protection," he said, shrugging in a manner of forced nonchalance. Rachel frowned, "Henry..."

"Look I dragged practically everyone into this mess and I feel goddamn awful for it!" he burst suddenly, eyes going wide and his hair doing the animated thing where it became fluffier the more agitated he got. Jekyll took a steadying breath, forcing himself back down. "I just, I don't want this to get any worse, I want you all to be protected."

"Henry, thank you." Rachel smiled and bumped his shoulder with her fist, "Thanks for looking out for us."

"Doctor Jekyll? I'm finished, could you come take a look at this?" Jasper called, looking up from the hologram of the Nova Corp that was covered with scribbles. Jekyll nodded, "Of course. Let's see this plan of yours in full."

~

Lucy pulled on her favorite black jacket with a wince of pain, the wound in her shoulder ached and stung as it was expected too. She rubbed it gently, grimacing before turning and limping out of the bedroom. Nova had patched her up yes, but they hadn't done a super great job. The thing Lucy was most grateful for was actually the fact that the blades had been small and thin, she'd only needed a few stitches.

Still, it hurt like hell if she made the wrong sort of movement, fastest way to sour her mood. But as she passed the bathroom, glancing inside, she saw something that brightened her mood.

Emma was brushing her hair, combing and parting it neatly, pinning it back with the silver hair clip Mr. Stride had given her for Christmas two years ago. The silver Nova swoosh, a curved, simple shape like a shooting star with a shimmering orange gem, it looked so beautiful in her deep brown hair. She tied back her hair, still dressed only in her underwear and pajama pants and leaned over the sink to start work on her makeup.

Her light hazel eyes flicked up in the mirror, catching Lucy's gaze and she smirked a little. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"I have plenty of pictures," Lucy teased, smiling a little. "Moments are special, I've got to enjoy it while it lasts." Emma straightened, placing her hands flat on the rim of the sink, "How does your shoulder feel? Your leg?"

"Like crap, but I already changed the bandages before you ask. You?"

"Nervous," she admitted, turning her back to the mirror. "Stride called me again." Hearing the unease in her voice, Lucy straightened and frowned. "What about?"

"Said he wants my advice about some new project involving the Heart of the Core," she said solemnly. Lucy rolled her eyes, "You'd think after that violent reaction you had with it the first time you got close to that thing, he'd stop putting you in danger."

"Lucy it wasn't vio-"

"You had a seizure and got delirious, started calling me Sabrina and calling Stride a monster." Lucy sighed, "He had to pin you down, no one else could get close. It's why they made me wear all that protective stuff when I was handling the red stone. If I'd have touched it, the same thing would've happened to me and I wouldn't have come back." She frowned at the thought, "God I hope they don't fire me for losing that."

"It was stolen, and Mr. Stride understood that. My salary alone is more than enough and they will be one step closer to letting us go if they do fire you," Emma said, frowning as well. She shook it off and offered her gentle smile, "It's going to be okay, no matter what happens. Now _go,_ I've gotta finish my makeup."

~

They came in pairs of two, each with a bag of some sort that held what gear they'd managed to save in the evacuation. It wasn't otherwise unusual, except for the fact that Lavender was wearing full falconry gear and met up with her pet on the balcony soon after coming inside. Jekyll asked that the falcon wait on the balcony and Lavender made sure he would, so the bird wasn't leaving.

Jasper could feel it watching him through the doors of the balcony, maybe it knew his plan was to turn himself into the perfect prey for such a bird. The thought made him swallow hard in fear and grip his little notebook a bit harder.

Rachel tapped his shoulder and made him snap out of it, looking around the dining room, noticing that everyone was milling about and waiting. Jekyll's dining room was the shiniest room in his apartment, chrome metals and white fabrics, a small silver chandelier of custom design hanging over a white wood table. The room itself was much larger than the table, a duo could tango all the way around the table without running into the high backed chairs, enough of those to seat a party easily.

The Lodgers had taken most of the seats, a few remained standing, anxiously shifting back and forth on their feet, waiting. Jekyll and Lanyon were absent from the room, but they joined the party soon after Lavender gave her falcon a little bit of meat and told it to wait.

"Alright, everyone!" Jekyll called, snapping his fingers. A blind fell over the window, making the lights in the room go dark. "Listen up." The chandelier spun and opened like a flower, beaming blue light onto the table in a hologram of the Nova Energy Center, complete with green notes from Jasper. "So we're all clear, Jasper created a plan to infiltrate Nova and not only find out where our friends are but also get them out."

All eyes turned to Jasper and he swallowed hard, feeling his face get hot. "I uh, yeah, you could call it a plan. But it, hinges on what we find so... I'm gonna stop talking."

He stepped up to the table and picked up the pen, "Okay, so, according to what Jekyll Lanyon have told me about the layout of the Nova Corp. building, they've got ordinary um, air conditioners, so a vent system. Easy way to sneak around if you're small or uhm, an insect." He gestured to Flowers, "If, you'd be willing to uh, help with reconnaissance using your uh, insect clairvoyance."

"I'd have to focus on a certain insect, and it would have to go in the right direction of its own will," she said, shrugging. "I can only really, nudge them in the right direction."

"That's why the insects won't be the only ones going in, hypothetically." Jasper tapped the pen on the table and a small, mouse shaped icon appeared. "I uh, figured that at least I would be able to get in as a mouse or something smaller. I, I'm no computer expert, but I thought if I found the server rooms I'd be able to, I don't know, hack us in?"

"You really think it's that easy?" asked Pennebrygg, sitting across the table from where Jasper stood. "I can get past passwords, I can go through firewalls and protection methods in less than twenty minutes, but without a direct connection to their network, I won't be able to access any data and even then we run the heavy risk of getting caught."

"Okay, so uh, what if I took a connection in?" He sketched up a quick usb and grouped it with the mouse image. "Say the servers are here and I managed to plug into them, would it be possible for us to get in somehow?"

The technopath considered this and nodded, "I'm sure I could jerry-rig something, but we'd have to work fast, upload a virus into the servers, disguise it as some sort of files and find the blueprints of the building." He gestured at the hologram and it changed, showing up hypothetical vents and an icon for a prison below, "Because if we get in, I can find out where they're holding everyone, even if it's not in the building."

"It'll be in the building," Jekyll said sharply, typing on a holographic keyboard. A video screen showed up and they watched as heavy black trucks, the exact ones they'd seen leave the Society with their friends, pulling into a garage behind the unmistakable Nova Corp. building. "Those trucks were the ones carrying the others, but we don't know where they've been placed.

"Which is, why I think I can get us into the system and then locate them inside the building." Jasper shrugged, "It's, a start at least. The um, the next step would have to be getting in and getting everyone out." He tapped a the screen and a few new icons appeared. "Sorry I didn't uh, draw you an icon Mr. Griffin, I thought it'd be funny."

There was a laugh and Jasper caught the semi-invisible man glaring at him as everyone else chuckled. He called up the last figure doodle, Griffin, Rachel, and Morcant.

"Who's the lady in blue?" asked Griffin, irritable from the joke.

"Morcant, same hero who saved Jekyll after the Detonation, who got us out when Nova showed up," Jasper explained. "She's connected to uh, Lucy, and Emma and the Core and a lot of complicated things. Point is, she can change matter, not only states of matter but uh, what, what things are made up of. My, hypothesis is she'll uh, be able to take the doors of the cell or whatever and, turn them into mist, make them, easy to walk through, harmless. So, Griffin and Rachel sneak in with her to lead everyone else out once she's opened the door."

"Um, what about guards? Don't mean to be a pessimist but I do believe they'll be a little upset we're taking their superhuman prisoners," Mosley said, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

~

"We've counted twelve of them thus far, each with unique abilities and Ether signatures," the scientist stated, falling into step beside Simon Stride as they walked further out of the Nova Center lower floors. "The lead is working just as you said it would, without the energy flow from, well, anything, their powers are pretty much useless. They're exhausting themselves trying to get out, using their body's natural energies as opposed to, well, natural energy."

"So they're compliant?" Stride asked, hands clasped behind his back.

"Opposite, actually, they're pissed. It's like starving a bunch of dogs, they're fighting with each other and us," he answered, checking his clipboard. "I'm not sure how long it'll be before someone gets hurt."

Stride walked silently for a moment, deep in thought. "Get the energy canisters ready, and guards armed with the strongest legal sedatives, after I talk with Mr. Utterson about his concerns, everything should be fine. Additionally, we won't have to worry about their memories of this event either, they'll forget they even had powers when I'm through with them."

"You're certain about this?" asked the scientist.

"Positive. It's why Miss Harris and Miss Carew don't remember anything." He snaps, "They had power their whole life, I took it from them, they are nothing. That said, make sure reserve energy for the Core is ready for deployment. I have a feeling we're going to have an interesting few days."

"Yes sir Mister Stride sir." They turned and scuttled off, giving Simon a few minutes of peace to put on his retail face.

He'd had powers since a very, very young age, though at the time he hadn't known they were truly powers. Not until a young woman, upset, beautiful, glowing in his eye like a sun, had appeared on his apartment balcony in tears.

She was irresistible, in every sense of the word, and he couldn't help himself from trying to "console" her. At his touch though, her glow vanished and he felt, powerful, truly powerful for the first time in his life, and he wanted more of it. So he took that glow from her, took and took till the gem in her chest fell out into his hand and she went limp, unconscious, and bleeding . Panicking, he'd dumped her in an ally, but kept the powerful stone.

When he realized he knew almost nothing about it, he looked for the woman.

When he found her memory gone, he put her on the team to explore it, keeping a close eye on her.

And then to think, when another woman with another powerful stone wound up unconscious, comatose in the wreck of the Detonation, well, there had to be a relationship right? And then they _knew_ each other, from a past life, you could tell in the way they interacted.

The long story made short was that Stride kept a close eye on the two of them, and an even closer eye on Emma. Gabriel had been confused and slightly concerned every time Stride promoted Miss. Carew, and even more so when he spoke well of Miss. Harriss, who so often butted head with employees. Nova had to keep them close though, so long as they had the mysterious stones.

Emma's made an excellent power source, the other's was an extra test subject. But after three years, the most it taught them was how to make an object half-appear three feet to the left.

And that project had been dropped.

Stride adjusted his collar, smoothed back his hair, then pushed open the door to Mr. Utterson's office. Gabriel looked up from the documents he was reading and pulled the glasses from his eyes, "Simon, you're late."

"For the record, you never gave me a time to come in sir," Simon answered smoothly, walking forward and taking a seat before Gabriel in a simple metal chair. Utterson's office looked cozy, with a few plush chairs, a small drink cabinet, warm colored rugs, and a cluttered wooden desk covered with photos, paperwork, and an "elite" laptop.

"Fine fine, fair point, but you're playing a dangerous game Simon." Gabriel looked Simon in the eye, "I've checked your orders, you've been doing things without my authorization."

"I assume this is about the volunteers in the isolation room?" he asked, smiling a little, warmly. "I assure you sir, it's all part of an experiment considering we've nearly perfected storing Ether."

"What does the experiment entail Stride?" Gabriel asked seriously, Stride shrugged, "If minor exposure to Ether is dangerous, I assure you we have the cure for the Nova poisoning and they're all aware of what's to come."

"If anyone dies we-"

"No one is going to die," he insisted. "The guards are there to make sure none of them steal anything and the chamber is to prevent external radiation from compromising the situation. Sir, it's nothing to worry about, it's a small experiment and-"

"The experiment is _not_ what I wanted to speak to you about," Gabriel deadpanned. "The press conference recently made me realize something, Nova needs to innovate beyond the Core. That's all the public sees us as and they only think of it as a threat. We need, something else, soon."

To his surprise, Stride laughed. "You worry too much Gabriel! I'll have something new this afternoon at the earliest, I promise!"  
"Care to give me a hint what your plan is?"

Stride smiled even more, "A surprise! But our energy problem should be permanently solved. I think I have a way of duplicating and transporting Ether sir. In fact-" his smile became slightly devilish, "These volunteers are going to help me with this."

~

"Well, if Misters Sinnett and Luckett wouldn't mind causing a distraction, the guards wouldn't be much a problem if they were mostly distracted by an explosion say here, here, and here." He scribbled a few circles in the various areas. "Of course you two would have to move fast and keep moving but I mean, that's obvious."

"Do I have to wear a suit?" asked Luckett, raising a hand. Jasper hesitated, did it matter? Sinnette elbowed his teammate, "We'll be able to handle it, we'll be stealthy."

"Cause a problem, and get out of there, sounds simple enough," Griffin said, rolling his eyes. "And I suppose Rachel and I are expected to take out the guards around our acquaintances aren't we?"

Jasper nodded timidly, "Yeah uh, that was the hope."

"Shouldn't be too hard, considering we're both invisible," Rachel said chipperly, poking her doodled self in the hologram. "Especially if this Morcant person is going to be helping us."

"It's, just Morcant," said a new voice, accompanied by the sliding of the glass window. Everyone turned to look and there were a few gasps of surprise, particularly from Lavender, whose falcon was sitting happily on Morcant's shoulder as she pushed through the blinds. She gave it a scratch and passed him to Lavender, "Lovely bird."

"Oh uh, thank you," the falconer said, blushing a bit, bird nipping playfully at her finger.

"So you weren't lying when you said you'd return."

Morcant shot Lanyon a sharp look, "I have more at stake in this mission of yours than you do, the past life of my friends are on the line."

"I was, actually just getting to that part," Jasper interrupted, hoping to cut the tension. "Uh, hopefully, if we can get the blueprints for the building, the commands to safely deactivate the core should be in there somewhere as well. Pennebrygg do you think you could-"

"Probably, if you actually get me in."

"We'll get in," Jekyll said sharply, standing from his seat. "Lanyon and I will go to the Core once we know how to shut it down, contain the area, and extract the Singularity from the center of it. This will cause _another_ distraction, which should allow the rescue team to escape with minimal interference as the Core is top priority to Nova."

"And if they do come after us?" Griffin asked, leaning on the table. Jekyll raised a brow, "You're going to have thirteen other superhumans with you, and Morcant, fight your way out if you have to."

"Non-lethally though!" Lanyon interjected, leaning in front of his friend. "The more people who die on this mission, the more likely it becomes we all end up with warrants on our heads when it's over. Hyde and Tailor are going to be thieves when it's over already, the last thing we want is for the rest of you to get in trouble as well!"

"Does this mean you'll stop patrolling after the mission is over?" asked Archer, stepping up to the table, a worried look on his face. Jekyll and Lanyon shared a look before henry sighed heavily. "After this, we're going to come clean."

The gasp at the table was tremendous and the air pressure in the room dropped by .03% because of everyone breathing at once. Lavender stood, "Sir you can't! Hyde is the face of the Society, he needs to stay on the streets! He's the original _new_ super hero!"

"Yes and if he comes forward as an upstanding, well known civilian, people will be less afraid of the rest of you," Lanyon explained, sounding optimistic. "It's also a win because then he doesn't have to lie about it!"

"Robert, it sounds like you're talking for Henry," Archer said, frowning a little. "I'd prefer to hear it from _him_ if it's all the same to you."

All the attention turned to Jekyll, whose eyes were locked on the tiny, digitally drawn cell that represented their missing friends, his mouth pressed into a tight thin line. He felt the anxiety of being watched, and that made it hard to move, even harder to speak. Eventually, he straightened, folding his hands behind his back, "I haven't made up my mind about the reveal. I'd like to _avoid_ that if at all possible."

"And if it isn't possible?" asked Archer, tilting his head. Jekyll sighed heavily, shrugging halfheartedly, "If I must, I will. But I do not want to. Hyde is the man I want to be, I'm not about to give that up." There was a moment of silence before he placed his hands flat on the table, "Does everyone understand the plan?"

There was a chorus of agreements.

"Good, ask Jasper if you need clarification on what you're doing, anyone not explicitly mentioned will stay here and guard the Space Singularity." He tapped the crimson gem that sat before him, "Otherwise? Suit up. We move at sundown, giving us seven hours to prepare. Get what you need, and be ready to go, dismissed."

~

Lucy slammed the hood shut, "Give it a go Emmy!" Emma nodded and turned the key in the ignition.

With a grind, the engine kicked back into gear and both of them cheered. Lucy pat the hood of the car, "Don't give up on us yet old girl!" She limped around the car and pulled open the door and took the shotgun seat, leaning over to give Emma a brief smooch on the cheek.

"Today's going to be an interesting day I can feel it," Lucy said with a laugh, buckling up. Emma raised an eyebrow, smiling warmly, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I think something bloody incredible is going to happen today," she answered, nodding firmly. "Just you wait, it's going to be a weird day. The good kind of weird though!"

"If you say so."

 


	10. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lights, Cameras, Action!  
> Problem, solution?  
> More problems???

Archer sat on a rooftop across the road from the Nova Energy Center, a bag of sunflower seeds in his hands, bow slung across his shoulders. Every few minutes, he turn and spit out the shell of a seed, easily landing it in a slightly crunched plastic cup to the right. "I know I'm better at long range and you can't go in at all, but this is going to be incredibly boring."

Pennebrygg looked up from his laptop, "It'll be less boring once Jasper gets me into the system, can you see Jekyll and Lanyon?"

"I've been watching them since they pulled up," he said, picking up his binoculars and squinting into the Nova Energy Center lobby, watching particular red and purple jackets disappear down a hallway, probably towards a bathroom or something. He tapped his mic, "Tailor, Hyde, you two dropped off the packages?"

" _We're still looking for somewhere to do it without being noticed, a closet or something_ ," Jekyll answered softly.

~

"I can't believe I'm carrying a box of crickets," Lanyon said sourly, feeling the box under his arm shift slightly. Jekyll shot him a look, "You could've carried Jasper, but you're so scared of mice. Besides, that's plan B."

"Mice are freaky!" he protested. Jasper, in the form of a tiny brown mouse, a USB drive on a small string around his neck, looked out of Jekyll's pocket and glared at Lanyon. "Don't give me that look, I don't like animals!"

"Lay low Jasper, we're almost there." Jekyll turned sharply and entered a single person bathroom, motioning for Lanyon to follow. They locked the door behind them and Jekyll moved over to the toilet, stepping up onto the seat and reaching up to the vent overhead. He swayed unstably and Lanyon ran to steady him, watching as Jekyll yanked out the cover and set it atop the back of the toilet.

He hopped up and hung in the vent, "Jasper, we've got a lot riding on you, get going!" Jasper nodded frantically, scrambling out of Jekyll's pocket, up onto his shoulder, down his sleeve and into the vent. He paused, glancing back at Jekyll as the doctor dropped out of the vent.

The mic on his tiny thread collar buzzed and he heard Pennebrygg, " _Come on Jasper, get moving. You're not alone buddy, but we need you to find those servers._ "

"They're up on the second floor," Lanyon called from the bathroom below.

"Keep an eye out for cold breezes! They need to keep the server room incredibly cold so the computers don't overheat, follow it!" Jekyll added, stepping up again to peek in. "We'll hang out in the lobby until you get us in, head there if you run into trouble."

Jasper nodded and scampered off down the vent, tiny mouse feet clicking along the metal. At multiple junctures the vents branched off, leading to God knows where in the building. Behind him, he heard the sound of crickets fleeing into the vents and the sound of the panel being moved back into place.

Hopefully Flowers had a lock on those crickets, and hopefully they'd spread out and find something before Jasper did. But, then again, they were the plan B if Pennebrygg couldn't hack into the system or if Jasper couldn't find the servers. He swallowed hard and hurried on, listening intently to the echos of voices in the vents.

The hum of the Core, deep below, thrummed through the building, nearly drowning out the echos of voices and machinery in the vent. But there was a distinctly more electric hum mixing among the sounds of the workday, and he ran for that. The air got colder as he got closer to that humming, and he ran faster.

" _How's it going in there Kaylock?_ " asked Pennebrygg over the tiny mic hanging on Jasper's collar with the usb. He paused to catch his breath, turning and squeaking twice into the mic, the agreed code for: "I'm okay."

 _"I'm mapping your path as you go, assuming you're still in the vents._ "

" _Lanyon and I are going to head downstairs and find somewhere to change_ ," Jekyll reported over the wire.

" _Griffin, Morcant and I are waiting in the alley awaiting directions, we're just waiting for you Jasper,_ " Rachel said, voice reassuring. Jasper would've smiled if he hadn't been a mouse lost in the vents of Nova Corp, but he picked himself up and kept running.

The body of a mouse wasn't all that different from being a dog, given most quadrupedal animals had similar bone structures, just really really small. He made great time, all things considered, but was distinctly more clumsy than an ordinary mouse.

Jasper ran for a long time, following the distant sound of humming drives and blowing fans for so long, he almost forgot that he was on a mission. The mouse part of his brain tried to distract him, telling him to go for spiders, after normal crickets and flies that travelled in these vents, happily at home in the dim lighting. Twice, he stopped to sniff a spiderweb, only for a sharp buzz and the chatter of voices from his microphone to remind him what he was doing.

Until, at long last, he looked down through a vent and saw a room lined with grey metal racks covered with shelves, and those shelves were filled with humming computers. Wires linked them in complex, color-coded networks between racks, green and red lights flashed here and there, an icy breeze was blowing into the room and giving the man working in there a good reason to be wearing the heavy coat he had.

The gaps in the vent cover were too small for a mouse, but maybe a lizard? No, it was way too cold, that'd be a stupid idea! Then again, if he didn't get in there, they wouldn't find out where the other Lodgers were, he had to.

It took some concentrating, and going against his own better judgement, but fur gave way to scales and a dark colored gecko stood where the mouse had once been. With the usb and mic still safely around his neck, Jasper climbed out of the vent into the freezing room, dropping down onto the server racks below where it was _immediatly_ warmer.

The programmer working in here glanced back, frowning in confusion before returning to work. Jasper winced from the fall as he got to his small feet, scrambling lower into the server rack, searching for somewhere to put the usb in. He silently prayed that nobody came over the mic, any noise now could give him away.

After hopping to another rack, he found an exposed port and let out a very, very quiet squeak of happiness before plugging in the tiny usb key Pennebrygg had given him. It contained a virus, a virus that, when downloaded, would download itself into the system disguised as a file and allow them to poke around.

They just had to hope they didn't get caught before- _"Yes! Jasper you did it! We're in! I'm getting a password and I've already established a connection with the network! We need maybe thirty seconds before I'll be in safely!_ " The squeaking radio made the programmer look up from where he was seated between two servers, frowning.

Jasper panicked, his tiny lizard brain going into overdrive as he tried to figure out what to do. It was cold in here, really cold, and if he spent much longer in here, he was probably going to get hypothermia! And shifting here into a mouse, after shifting twice already, he risked turning into something he didn't want to or worse, back to normal Jasper in the middle of a server rack where he'd probably get stuck!

He began to panic, looking around as the programmer got to his feet and began to approach the server rack, mentally begging Pennebrygg to hurry up already. A click over the radio, " _Alright Jasper! You can unplug and get out of there._ "

He squeaked vigorously and tugged the usb key, making a sprint along the server racks towards the wall, tiny feet pattering on the plastic and metal. The programmer made a noise of surprise, running alongside the racks, squinting to try and figure out what it was. When it clicked that the It was a lizard, he reached and tried to grab Jasper, making him run faster.

At the end of the aisle, he jumped from the server rack to the icy concrete wall, frantically climbing towards the vent overhead. A hand slapped down behind him, barely missing the tip of his tail as he clambered up and through the vent grate. The programmer ran to get a chair, so Jasper kept running, out of breath, tiny heart racing.

When he was out of reach of the vent and it was warmer, he collapsed, laying there and catching his breath. But still, he picked himself and kept moving, looking for a dead end or something hidden. Upon finding a dark corner between two points, Jasper returned to his ordinary shape and lay there in silence, holding the little collar in one hand as he caught his breath.

His nose was barely a few centimeters from the roof of the vent, his arms barely had an inch of movement on either side, it felt like a coffin that smelled like dust.

He could just fall asleep here, maybe they wouldn't mind?

The tiny radio made a noise and he placed it in his ear, "Say that, again?"

" _I said, you're sitting in the vents, and apparently you're human again. You okay?"_

"Just, catching my breath," Jasper whispered, touched by his concern.

" _Well, I'm finding the blueprints, you take a minute and then I'll walk you through to meet up with Hyde and Tailor. In the meantime, Whoosh Team? You're on._ "

~

The breaks of Emma's car squeaked as it came to a stop behind Nova in their reserved parking space.

"Got your phone?" asked Lucy. "Wallet? Emergency meds? Pen?"

"Check, check check check," Emma answered, searching her purse. "You got everything?"

"What am I going to need? It's a lineup. I do have my wallet and phone though," Lucy said, patting her pockets. She leaned over and gave Emma a kiss on the cheek, "Let's roll!"

As they got out of the car a voice called out: "Hold it!" Looking towards the building revealed the source of the voice, a man in a suit was striding towards them. Emma frowned, not recognizing this man from any of her branches of staff, and not understanding why he was being flanked by four heavily armed guards.

"Sir this is my reserved space, I'm to report downstairs with Miss Harris to speak with the-"

"New orders from Stride," the man said sharply. "Miss Harris will be taken to a floor below yours to deal with the lineup and Miss Carew is to wait elsewhere until Mister Stride comes to speak with you."

"Speak with me? About what?" Emma snapped, shutting the door of the car, taking a wary step back as the guards approached her.

"About a recent discovery made by your department that will lead to new developments to the Core, top secret," the man said casually. Lucy shut her car door and leaned on the car, glancing at the guards that approached her too. "Armed escort? Are we in danger because of the superhumans they caught?"

The man stiffened, only to relax a second later. Of course she would know, she's being brought in to inspect them, point out the ones who took the stone from her armor. He nodded, "Aye, they've been pretty violent since arriving, not happy about being kept overnight."

"Great, bunch of superpowered freaks and they're _angry_ ," Lucy said uneasily. "And you want me to be in the same room with them?"

"You'll have assistance." The man in the suit gestured to the guards near Lyct and they both nodded amicably, "Mr. Lucas and Mr. May will accompany you down and in, Miss Carew will be escorted by myself and these two others, you've nothing to worry about."

Lucy looked at the guards suspiciously, then allowed one to offer their arm to assist her with walking as they started inside. She gave Emma one last wave as they parted just beyond the door into the building. The man helping her limp along, May, was kind and was glad to trade sarcastic bureaucratic banter as they rode the elevator down a floor.

This floor was just rooms, in fact, Lucy had never really been in here. Rumors said they were offices, unused closets and storage places, but the consensus was that there was just nothing there. So Lucy was more than a little uneasy when one of her armed guards pushed open a door and motioned for her to take a seat on a shabby blue couch present in the room.

The man helped Lucy to sit and promised to wait outside, all with a gentle smile. The door shut behind them and Lucy heard a lock turn, stopping her heart in fear.

She heaved herself off the couch and limped to the door, furiously trying the lock. A scowl painted itself on her face and she turned, slamming her good shoulder into the metal door as hard as possible. It rattled on its hinges, but refused to budge, holding steady. Lucy was stuck in a concrete box with a single, tiny, vent shaft in one corner over an empty whiteboard. All that sat in here was the couch.

But to what purpose?

Lucy's mind began to race as she searched for a way out, limping a circuit around the room, a hand on her thigh above where the knife wound continued to ache, hand pressed on the wall as she felt for weak spots. Anything, secret passage of some sort, or better yet something to break the door down. But, no, there was nothing.

She dropped back onto the couch, defeated, mind scrambling for an option.

Her phone buzzed, a message from Emma and a photo of her looking worried.

_alone in a room, definitely not a meeting, where are you?_

_1st basement floor, only couch in here, guards locked me in, no clue wats happening_.

_stay wary, somethings wrong_

_good luck, love you_

_< 3 u too_

Lucy pocketed her phone and stood again, limping to the door and listening. No voices outside, nothing to suggest those two guards were even still there. Then, footsteps? The sound of a cart with a squeaky wheel, getting uncomfortably close to the door.

She backed away as the locked turned and the door was pulled open.

Mr. Stride walked in, pushing a small metal tray with a white cloth on top. Lucy swallowed in fear, "Mr. Stride, what is that?"

"Don't worry miss Harris, nothing important," he assured her, walking to sit on the couch, shutting the door behind. She stayed standing, watching him with fear.

"Why did they lock me in at first? And can't you just take me to where the superhumans are being held? I'll point out who took the gem easy peezy and then we're done here," she said, forcing herself not to sound scared.

"It was for your own safety, can't have you wandering around down here alone with so many dangerous things afoot," he said coolly, folding his hands in his lap. "Please, have a seat, there are some things I want to discuss with you."

"Like, what," she growled, balling her hands into fists.

"Your resignation from the company." Stride pulled the cloth from the table and revealed a few syringes full of clear liquid, "You see, Nova is about to change, and I realize that keeping you and Miss Carew alive is specifically holding us back. It's my fault you're still alive anyway, I figured I'd remedy it since you're never going to get your memories back, a mercy if you will. Now, you can choose to die painlessly, and silently, but the more you refuse, the more painful I will make Emma's death."

"You're going to kill us? For commercial development??" Lucy said, her fear turning into anger. When Simon opened his mouth to answer, she didn't wait and lunged, grabbing his little wheel tray and tipping it. The syringes landed on the concrete and shattered, Stride opened his mouth to shout but Lucy slapped a hand over his mouth and silenced him.

He stared at her with wide eyes as she pinned him to the couch, "Okay, Mr. Stride, you make a noise louder than a whisper and I'll grab that last syringe and make you wish you hadn't hired me." Slowly, she moved her hand and he growled: "I already wish I hadn't hired you."

She dragged him into a sitting position by his suit lapels, frowning and noting the pistol holster under his coat. "I'll be taking that if you don't mind." He just glared at her as she took the pistol and dropped him on the couch.

"Are there any guards outside?" she asked, loading it and aiming at Stride. His gaze was steady, "You wouldn't shoot me."

"Try me." Lucy tapped her temple, "We're not so different, you and I, we're both willing to kill for what we want, and I want to protect Emma. Now who's out there?"

"Thomas and May," Stride answered, his face going pale as he realized his position. "They have been the whole time, I told them not to come in."

"And left the door unlocked. Stupid, Mr. Stride, kind of stupid." She turned on the safety and pocketed the gun, "If anyone gets between me and Emma, I'll find you, and make you regretwanting to be the dramatic villain character."

Stride was silent, eyes locked on Lucy's as she went to the door and pulled it open, shutting it quickly behind. The guards, Thomas and May, looked at her in surprise. She nodded in greeting, subtly hiding the gun under her coat, "Mr. Stride told me to head upstairs, alone, he's got a few things to take care of."

"Yes Miss Harris," one of them answered, nodding. Lucy nodded too, turned, and hurried off down the hall to where she knew the elevator was, doing her best to hide her limp. She had to find Emma, before Stride did what he wanted to do, kill her or otherwise.

Why the hell did he even want them dead? Because Lucy had failed to get Hyde killed? Because she'd lost the stone? Because Nova was tired of paying them and helping them despite the fact that they both worked hell or high water to keep their jobs? What capitalist nonsense was Stride trying to pull to justify the murder of not only a business partner but said partner's _girlfriend?_

Lucy walked faster, worried.

~

Rachel tapped at the small screen on her wrist, mask pushed down below her chin, "We've got the building's blueprints, but do we actually know where everyone's being held?"

 _"I'm still looking for that, I'd be willing to think that the lead lined room on the third basement level is a safe bet,"_ Pennebrygg answered, a small red dot appeared on Rachel's screen, marking the room. Morcant leaned over her shoulder, "What makes you think they're being contained in such a small room? Especially if they are superhumans as you described, such a small room should be easy for them to escape from."

" _Well Miss Morcant, if you have a better idea, I'm sure we're all willing to hear it,_ " he responded, sounding a bit peeved. " _Where do WE get the energy to use our powers? From our bodies? No way! We'd be consuming enough food to cause a famine! It's gotta come from some outside source, and considering Nova Radiation, Ether as you and the Nova files call it, gave us these powers, then maybe-"_

"The Core does not power you, the energy in the world does, like the Force in those Star Wars movies," Morcant deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "But the heart of it, the Energy Singularity, does channel Ether."

" _Okay well, we know because of the Detonation that it behaves like radiation in concentrated amounts. Thus, it should be blocked by lead._ "

"That's your hypothesis then? Why don't you read us the whole lab report then Pennywise," Griffin said, leaning his head back against the wall with a groan boredom and impatience. "Frankly, I'd prefer if we weren't going in on a _hunch_. You sure you can't find _any_ info on where they locked them?"

" _I can read files, Griffin, not emails and phonecalls. Just because I'm a technopath doesn't make me a technological psychic. I can't see everything. Why don't you three get moving before someone makes a phonecall about the costumed nerds hanging out in the alleyway beside the building?_ "

Griffin raised his hands in defense, Pennebrygg's tone only being mildly threatening but enough to make the girls laugh. Rachel pulled her mask up over her nose and nodded, "Go time." The three of them then vanished from sight, each in a different way.

Morcant dissolved, faintly a rainbow in the sunlight on watery mist before thinning out and slipping along the wall near the ground, nearly unnoticeable. Rachel's silhouette became a void in space for a moment, a black mark shaped like a person that sank until it was flat on the ground, and running. Griffin faded like smoke from the outside in, too fast for the eye to notice, but if it had been slower, for a moment he would've looked like an anatomical model of muscle and then a network of veins and arteries.

His eyes were the last thing to disappear before his footsteps followed Rachel and Morcant. Being the only truly corporeal one put Griffin at a heavy disadvantage to the others, but by walking just behind some of the men and women entering the building he was able to go wherever he pleased. (Thank God Lanyon had healed the bullet wound in his leg before they started the mission.)

All according to plan, Lanyon and Jekyll strode across the lobby to a hallway hidden behind white doors. The sign said "Authorized Personnel Only," but in their minds, this was more important than signs and social niceties. Henry couldn't help but chuckle when Lanyon jumped due to an invisible hand placing itself on his shoulder for guidance. A shadow and small cloud darted around Jekyll's feet as they walked swiftly along. They'd abandoned the box of crickets somewhere on the ground floor, having no need for them given that Jasper's mission was successful. (Flowers had gone back to Jekyll's apartment to hang out with Lavender and Mosley, they were the backup team!)

"Hey you're not supposed to be here!" called a voice suddenly.

And they started running, three sets of footsteps, only two visible. As they passed by the stairwell, the door slammed open on its own and the invisible footsteps ran down the metal stairs. He slowed only when people came up in his direction, slipping out of the way so they didn't even realize they'd passed something. Only the vague sense of dread that comes from being watched gave them any clue that someone was there.

Three floors down, Griffin cautiously opened the door to the floor and peered around with a frown, finding it unusually populated with heavily armed individuals. Oh yeah, the rest of the Lodgers had to be here somewhere, why else would so many people who looked like regular soldiers be standing around chatting unless they expected an incursion or jailbreak. (That being said, did they have anyone who could protect against bullets and gunfire?)

Slowly, silently, he retreated into the stairwell. "Pennebrygg! Where to next? The hallway is bloody crawling with guards and I don't want to get shot for the second time in twenty-four hours!"

" _We could set off the first 'distraction' if you'd prefer Griffin,_ " Luckett's casual tone answered from somewhere else over the mic. " _Say, on a scale of one to ten, how much damage do you actually want us to do?_ "

" _Something near a six, damaging, but don't put lives in danger,"_ Jekyll answered, sounding out of breath. A door was slammed on his end, " _Time for Lanyon and Jekyll to disappear._ "

"Yes thank you for your one liners, I'm still kind of stuck down here! Pidgley and Morcant disappeared already, but I can't risk going in there!" He pushed open the door and peeked in, watching the shadowy shape that was Rachel dart along the ground, and little alarms on the soldiers began going off as she passed.

"She's going to get all three of us caught," Morcant whispered suddenly, materializing beside Griffin from a wisp of mist, squinting into the hall as well. He scowled though she couldn't see it, "What're you doing?? You're going to get us caught!"

"Those readers, if they detect us, you'll be the first one they find," she continued thoughtfully. "We either have to disable them or-"

Overhead, an explosion made the ground shudder and the lights flicker, the soldiers in the hall beyond all started with fear. Some of them exchanged fearful glances and they all made an expression of listening as new orders came over their headsets. The majority of them started towards the door where Griffin stood, making him backpedal and vanish again from sight as he pressed himself into a corner. "Whatever you fireballs are doing up there, keep it up, they're heading your way."

The door slammed open and the guards sprinted up the stairs, some passing so close to Griffin he felt his hair being ruffled by a soft wind. Multiple of those little devices began to ring as they passed, going quiet as they left the landing, no one seemed to notice as another, smaller explosion rustled the building.

Only one person stopped when they heard their radar going off, and because of this, they didn't notice the mist that slipped through the doorway. They picked up the device from their belt and waved it around the landing, until the tiny antenna at the front pointed right at Griffin and he felt his heart leap into his throat. The guard's brow furrowed and they stepped closer, staring at the space where the invisible man was.

Before they could get any closer, Griffin darted towards the door and yanked it open, darting through as the guard let out a noise of surprise, following shortly. Pennebrygg's directions were brief and concise, and Griffin ran, not even bothering to be stealthy. Rachel and Morcant could be stealthy, he was going to be the god damn Invisible Man and scare the hell out of these guards, maybe get them off his friends' backs.

The guard giving chase shouted to their fellows and fired a single shot that hit the concrete floor three feet to Griffin's right. He stopped short, silent, not even daring to breathe as they approached. Each one now held their own little device, sweeping it across the room, searching for him. They were going to find him if he held still, if he moved, those devices would still be able to spot him. A whole hallway behind he could run, but wouldn't do much good would it?

There were four guards, each in basic bulletproof armor, no helmets though. They were armed with pistols, small caliber but dangerous nonetheless. Being invisible, even if you were detected by a machine, had its perks.

Griffin lunged for the one leading the way, smacking the device from their hand and slamming a fist into their jaw. They spun and would've fallen, if he hadn't caught them and put them in a headlock. The other guards' guns were raised in less than a second, but they didn't know where to fire and the one in Griffin's arms begged for them not to shoot.

"It's a person! I-I can't see them can-"

"If it's a person they're totally invisible!" one of them said, frowning, eyes searching for any sign or sound of this person. Griffin remained silent, watching as one of the men's shadows seemed to darken and a mist began to form.

Before they even knew what was going on, Rachel tackled one of the guards from behind and Morcant spun the other round, punching out his clock with a hit that'd make a professional boxer sweat. He dropped like a stone and she rounded on the other, breaking his nose with a second punch. The guard in Griffin's arms began to shout, but he covered their mouth, not bothering to remain invisible anymore.

Rachel pinned the guard she'd tackled to the ground, pulling back their arms and tying them with a strong, rubber-like rope before they even had a chance to fight back. Though they were tied, their friend with the broken nose was not, and he raised his gun to shoot Rachel.

Until a hand made of solid metal closed around the barrel of the gun, and Morcant gave him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. With blood dripping down his face, he fired anyway and Morcant winced. She pulled the gun from his hands, clicked the safety, and passed it to Rachel, all without breaking eye contact.

The guard backed up, fumbling for his radio that was stuck on his belt and not coming loose. Morcant plucked the bullet from her metal palm and tossed it aside, the dent in the metal healing as if it were liquid as she calmly strode up to the stranger and grabbed his radio. She crushed it in her grip, "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way, which involves you with more broken bones. Which would you prefer?"

He swallowed hard, terrified, and slowly raised his hands in surrender.

It was easy for them to tie up the four Guards, harder to find a room to leave them in, and even harder to gag all of them when they didn't have more than a handkerchief between the three of them. Griffin shut the door behind them and returned to being unseen, "Well, that was fun. But did we actually get anything from that?"

Rachel held up a card between her fingers, then spread them to reveal four keycards, one of them having a unique color to it. Morcant took that one and nodded, "This is our ticket in, now to find the correct door."

"There are five doors on this floor to five, larger rooms. One of 'em is going to look like a vault if it's a sealed lead room," Griffin remarked, rolling his eyes even though they couldn't see.

They all looked up as thundering footsteps came from overhead, followed shortly by a second, brief explosion. "We don't have long, let's go."

~

Hyde tied back his mask, tapping the side of the left lense to light up and become the heads up display he knew well. In his ear, Team Blaze was discussing with Pennebrygg the safest place to set off their first "distraction" and made the building shake. The stealth team were a floor above, looking for the other Lodgers, waiting for the explosion. He looked to Lanyon, who was placing his own mask on, sleeves jingling as the silver pins clacked together.

"Why do you wear those on your costume? They're so noisy," Hyde said, folding his arms and looking at Lanyon, or rather, at Tailor.

Tailor rolled his eyes, "Silver helps me focus my powers remember?" Hyde blinked and frowned, "I, forgot about that. Well quit putting on your makeup and let's go! If we can distract down here too, it gives the others a chance to get out!"

"Why are we doing this Henry?" Tailor asked, looking at him with a frown. Hyde stood a little straighter, "Because people were wronged? Because our friends were captured and every second the Core has the Energy Singularity we risk another Detonation? Why are you asking me this?"

"Are you sure it's not because you just want to repay Morcant for saving your life?" he said, sounding angry. Hyde scowled, "No! Are you just ignoring the fact that we could stop another Detonation? That Emma and Lucy were hurt and-"

"They're only two people."

"Two people whose memories were stolen and whose items and powers caused the Detonation because they were handled irresponsibly," he countered. Lanyon's eyes narrowed, but didn't say anymore.

He sighed heavily and made sure the pistol at his side was loaded. "Let's go."

"Lanyon if you have something to say, just say it," Hyde snapped, standing in front of the door. "I don't want your passive aggressive bullshit when we're on the clock and at the risk of dying."

Lanyon stared at him, surprised by his friend's tone of voice. He closed his eyes, sighed again and said: "I don't want to do this anymore, this hero thing. This, this isn't my life."

"Should've just said that then, there's good you can do still," Hyde said, frowning. He nonchalantly jumped up and pulled the cover from a vent overhead, "Come on, let's finish this mission." Lanyon nodded slowly, looking almost ashamed for having spoken up, and he hesitated before accepting Hyde's help in getting into the vent.

The first explosion shook the building.

They crawled on directions from Pennebrygg, who reported that the other Lodgers were nearly freed, Lanyon in the lead. They came upon a large shaft with a ladder down the side and a large fan at the bottom that sent a hum through the tunnel on a heavy wind. Lanyon reached out and swung onto the ladder, Hyde simply stuck to the wall as they began to descend.

After a moment of climbing slowly down, Lanyon called: "Henry! Look! I'm sorry if what I said irritated you but-"

"Dude! I don't care! We'll discuss my motives for doing this _after_ we get the Energy Singularity!" Hyde snapped back, finding the vent shaft they were supposed to take next. He planted his foot on the metal, and kicked hard, the heavy wind of the massive fan not far below whipping his hair in his face.

"It's, not about Morcant though! Or the Lodgers or even ego!" Lanyon called, gripping the ladder like a lifeline. _Clang! Clang!_ The cover started to come loose. "You're, _different_ now! Different than the Henry I used to know!" _Clang clang CRASH!_

Hyde grabbed the vent cover before it could fall into the fan, now dented heavily and almost folded in half. Silently, He offered a hand to Lanyon and swung him into the vent itself before climbing in the returning the cover to its place. They continued crawling, hearing the hum of the Core get louder as they got closer and closer to it.

"Robert, I know I'm different like this, you want the truth? It's because I can act like I want to and be the man I want to be," Hyde said as they crawled along, Tailor's coat jingling softly.

"You're not happy with who Henry Jekyll is?"

"Not entirely. I'm not happy with how little he does, with how little he can do. Hyde, well, he bloody helps people and no one argues that unless they're not the kind of people he helps."

Lanyon was silent, and at first Hyde thought it was because he didn't know what to say, then he realized it was because he was listening. There was a voice ahead, in the Core chamber, and Tailor was trying to silently remove the vent cover.

He slipped out of the vent, almost silently dropping down onto a metal catwalk. Hyde climbed out and placed the cover back before dropping down beside Lanyon. They walked to the edge of the catwalk and looked down into the room where two ladies in sweater vests were working over the controls of the Core.

"If you're really convinced you're doing good, I'll try to help you, until you start being an idiot and then I'll knock some sense into you," Robert whispered, elbowing Hyde as they watched the scientists leave. He smiled a little, "Thanks Robert, same for you."

"Well I'm not the one constantly trying to be a hero," he chuckled, creeping along the catwalk as the door shut below.

The hum of the Core was a loud and surrounded them, resonating with something in the chest, something one might call the soul. Hyde couldn't help but shudder at the intensity of the hum so near to the Core, suddenly intimately remembering the sensation of when his skin tried to crawl off his body, picking up the pace and running with Lanyon down the catwalks to the metal level just above the ground floor.

There was a door in the side of the Core with a retractable view port, but even that was labeled: _Authorized personnel only, all others will be escorted from the premises_. They shared a look and Hyde approached it, pulling back the tiny window and looking inside.

Beyond the impossibly bright and colorful light, now hidden behind protective sheets of metal that made the Core look like a massive, steel can. Hyde could squint and see a half circle shape hovering in the space, held up by wires in a thick sort of casing. Lanyon pulled him back and shut the hatch, "You're going to blind yourself that way, I could barely look at that from here!"

"Well it's definitely in there," Hyde said, rubbing the ghosts from his eye under his mask. "Hooked up a lot, Automation, can you get us the commands to shut it down?"

" _Y-re -oing to ha- -o -itch it fro- acti- pow- - -serve power,_ " Pennebrygg answered, voice choppy and signal unclear. " _Sen- -iles be-se -ignal chop-"_ and then it cut out. Hyde and Lanyon shared a look, but Hyde smirked as a written message appeared on his mask lense.

"You got it then?"

"Yeah but I can't program, can you?"

"A little bit."

"Good enough, let's go!"

They ran down the catwalks, still trying to be stealthy and not draw _too_ much attention to themselves, fully aware that there were cameras on their backs. The computer was locked, but Pennebrygg's instructions showed Tailor and Hyde exactly how to get in.

"What next?" asked Lanyon, typing quickly.

"You need to-" both of them froze as icy hands gripped them both on the back of the neck, squeezing between the vertebrae of the spine in the incredibly painful manner elementary school children called a pressure point. But it was worse than that, because the ice in the touch spread into the muscles with an electric feeling. Tailor's hands froze over the keyboard, clenching and twitching uncomfortably, Hyde's head tilted to the side and his throat closed off.

The hands pulled them both back and threw them to the ground, Hyde dropping limply onto his side and Tailor catching himself on his hands and knees. He looked back and glared, "Simon Stride."

"Tailor," he said crisply, frowning. "Or should I say, Robert?"

Tailor rolled onto his back, moving away from Stride, "How, how do you know that?"

"Why, your energy feels the same no matter what, although, I thought I'd recognize your fluffy-haired friend but I don't." Stride folded his arms and frowned, "And here I was thinking Hyde and Jekyll were the same, alas, his energy is, different."

"The Detonation, gave you the power to see people's powers didn't it?" Lanyon asked, trying to stand. He felt drained, as if he'd run a marathon in ice cold weather, and the hum of the Core no longer resonating in his chest.

Before he could stand, Stride grabbed his face as one would a naughty child, "Wrong. I'm not a mutant like you superhuman freaks, I was born this way, _gifted_. And I don't see them-" the ice and paralysis returned from the grip, making Lanyon gasp in pain as every muscle in his body stiffened, "I take them. Not replicating of course but, draining you morons like batteries."

When he let go, Tailor couldn't move and it was hard for him to breath. Stride shrugged nonchalantly, "I know what you're thinking, why go through all this trouble to catch you and your friends, what good will it do me or Nova?"

"That, was what I'd been thinking," he said stiffly, trying to move, glancing worriedly at Hyde who was twitching unusually. Stride shrugged, "Truth? I'm not doing it for Nova, and I wasn't doing it for you."

He looked up and chuckled darkly, "I was waiting for her, because she seems to follow trouble like a bloodhound." Lanyon looked back and saw Morcant in the doorway, staring with wide eyes at the site before her.

Her hands balled into fists and she growled, "You're the one who stole my friends, aren't you?"

~

The building shook as an explosion rocked the floor.

Lucy stumbled, leaning hard against the wall as her arm and leg began to hurt. She grimaced, noting how the guards ran past her towards the sound, and reached out to grab one. "Emma Carew, _where is_ she?"

The guard blinked and pointed back down the hall, "But, Mr. Stride said-"

"Mr. Stride sent me to get her," Lucy lied, limping towards the room they'd pointed to. She threw open the door and found a boring conference room on the other side, but Emma sitting nervously at the table. She stood with a gasp, "Lucy!"

"We've gotta go, Stride wants us dead," Lucy said, eyes wide with fear. Emma's breath caught in her throat and she ran over, hugging Lucy tightly. "I thought it was suspicious, him suddenly bossing me around like that, but what does he want us dead Lucy?"

"Something about us holding back the company, but I'm pretty sure that was bull," she answered, kissing Emma's forehead. "We've got to get out of here."

"No, no we have to go down to the Core, get the data from the computers before things get any worse," Emma insisted, taking Lucy's hands. "Something's wrong, and we can't lose that information."

"Is it really worth it though? With the explosions and-"

"Lucy, Lucy please, it means so much to me, we can't lose it!" Emma pouted, giving Lucy her most endearing and begging look possible. Her girlfriend opened her mouth to answer, closed it, and sighed heavily. "Alright, we'll go down and get the data, but then we're leaving right away okay?"

"Thank you Lucy," Emma said, hugging her tightly, but not so tight her shoulder would be injured. "You feel it too, don't you?"

"That something's different about this?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

They made a break for the stairs, Emma acting as Lucy's good leg as best she could. Stumbling down the stairs, they made it to the lowest working level and heard arguing down the hall.

"We already _tried_ that card Ninja, none of them are working!" argued an irritable masculine voice.

"What would you rather I do? Our secret weapon ran off!" snapped a slightly squeaky feminine one. Lucy and Emma shared a confused look and limped to the corner, looking around to find the source of the sound. NinjaBread, her mask pulled down, was arguing with a red-faced Vanish in front of a heavy metal door lined with lead. Someone pounded on the other side of the door and a faint voice could be heard: "Try something else! Get us out of here!"

Emma stepped forward, only to be stopped by an alarmed Lucy. So they stood at a choice, let them continue to struggle, friends trapped here on orders by Stride, or go downstairs and pretend they couldn't have done some good. Her decision came when they spotted her, both vanishing from view and the confused voice on the other side calling for them.

The keycard reader beeped green when Emma slid her card through it, heaving open the door as a shadow materialized beside her. NinjaBread just stared as Emma dragged open the door, revealing the startled and relieved Lodgers, two of whom let out a brief cheer and thanks. Emma looked at Ninja, then at the prisoners who looked nothing like the threats the news and Nova made them out to be.

"Get to the surface," she ordered. "I'll call off the guards, but I think your friends with the explosions are doing a well enough of distracting them. I'd also think you all have enough superpower between you to make an army."

They stared at her for a long time before a woman with goggles and sharp teeth stepped forward, calling to the others. "Well what're we waiting for ya wankers? Let's move!" There was a rallying cheer, someone scooped up the smallest one on their shoulders, and they took off at a run, a stampede of people with an invisible man in tow. Lucy watched them go with wide eyes, intrigued and awed.

NinjaBread started to follow but Emma caught her shoulder. "Hey. I know why you attacked Lucy, I don't blame you." The ninja stared at her, then smiled behind her mask before turning to shadow and zipping off to lead the charge.

Emma smiled, a glowing sort of feeling building in her chest, a feeling that told her to hurry downstairs.

 


	11. Hiccup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The road to hell is paved with good intentions, broken glass and speed bumps.  
> They ought to tell you these things ahead of time.

Jekyll, no, Hyde? Henry, Edward, one of the two, which was he?

Whoever he was, it was way too damn cold in here for it to be his room, and there were sounds of, fighting? Everything felt leaden, impossibly heavy and sluggish, but he forced his eyes open and struggled into a sitting position. Steady hands, Robert's hands, lifted him up and turned him to see the source of the sounds, where blurry shapes were moving.

One of them, blue, charged and swung at a thin shape in black, successfully punching that person in the face. Both cried out in pain, blue staggering back clutching their hand, black straightening and rubbing their jaw. His vision focused, he could see the almost bored expression on Stride's face and the utter shock on Morcant's.

Her hand, slightly scarred, strong, dark skin, looked pale and almost zombie like, twitching unusually as she massaged it.

"What did you do to me?" she demanded, the blue gem in her chest flashing dangerously.

"The same thing I did to your entitled little friends," Stride answered, massaging his chin. "Y'know, you superhumans who get accustomed to this, constant power thing, your memories kind of suck. Take away that energy and you forget everything."

"That's why they forgot me," Morcant snarled, backing away. But still he strode after her, posture and tone of voice similar to a man who's never gotten told no and punished for refusing. Something in that voice, and in Hyde- no, in Jekyll's mind told him that one touch, and it'd be over, so he tried to warn Morcant but it came out weak and pathetic, he simply couldn't move.

Morcant continued backing away, but her face was unafraid, "I will kill you, Stride, for what you did to them." Simon Stride chortled, an almost lighthearted chuckle that belonged in a parlor, not a villain. Before he said anything, and before Morcant could react, he reached out and touched the stone in her chest with merely his forefinger.

The reaction was immediate, the stone going dark as night sans a few, shimmering specks within the stone. Morcant's eyes rolled into the back of her head and that greyish color crept into her face as she dropped to her knees, and then went limp. Stride gently lay her on the ground, rolling her onto her back, a hand reaching for the stone.

"You really think you can just pull it out?" asked Lanyon's voice, tinted with fear and worry. Stride looked over at them, and smiled. God if Jekyll, _Hyde_ could move he'd run over and punch that smug son of a gun in the face for being so cruel.

"Why do you, even want it?" Hyde wheezed, finally finding his voice as Stride reached for the stone, gripping the stone around the edges.

"Isn't it obvious Hyde? A stone, divided into four pieces to divide the power. Get all four-" the blue gem came away free with a sickening slurping sound, blood dripping from it and soaking into the shirt of Morcant's costume, "And you have ultimate power. Matter, Energy, Space and Time, I now have Energy and Matter."

He nonchalantly pulled a handkerchief from his coat and began to scrub the blood from the flat side of the stone, watching it return to the brilliant blue it had been. Lanyon started to stand and Stride didn't make a move that he cared, "Oh please Robert, I know you're a glorified nurse, go ahead and save the minor character, it's not important if she lives or dies."

"How dare you?" snapped Hyde, left on his own as Lanyon ran to the unconscious woman's side, hands glowing with soft light. "How greedy are you Simon?! You've a job that pays you thousands, everyone loves you, the press thinks you're an angel and you've got this whole company under your belt apparently, but you want _more?_ Let me guess, world _domination??"_ He was seething, the energy returning to his limbs being funneled into rage, forcing him to stand and face Stride.

"World domination is so pretentious," Stride said dismissively, watching as the bleeding wound in Morcant's chest closed over with scar tissue, the effort needed to heal that leaving Lanyon clearly weaker than he was before. He wiped a little more blood from the stone and ran a finger over it, "I literally just want to be a supervillain, to be feared, for the world to know it cannot control me."

With a flick of his hand, the stone glowed blue and Lanyon was dragged onto his feet by an invisible force. This same force threw him at Hyde, slamming them first into each other, and then into the ground. Stride examined his nails poshly, noting how the varnish was a bit chipped, and in the gesture, flung the two into a wall. Hyde forced them to turn mid air, taking the full force of the blow as he was crushed into the wall by Lanyon before the two of them crashed to the ground, groaning softly.

Stride hummed softly and strode over to the computers, "I love listening to music while I work, I find it makes things much more interesting." He typed a command into the computer and a digital voice said: _switching to reserve power. Singularity chamber, now safe to enter._

Another command, and soft, 80s sounding music began to play from the terminal as Hyde and Lanyon untangled themselves and started to stand. Hyde shook his head to clear his vision, then charged at Stride with a roar of anger, only for the greedy businessman to dissolve into mist and reappear on the stairs, climbing towards the chamber.

Lanyon rose unsteadily to his feet, watching as his clearly injured friend gave chase, heart sinking in fear. He ran to catch up, to stop Hyde from doing something stupid, well, something even more stupid than he was already doing.

What was Henry thinking? Why had he gotten so mad? Yes they'd had conversations about the corrupt 1% before, but he'd never lunged at anyone like that. That anger, was that part of the person Henry wanted to be?

Somehow, Stride beat them up to the door that lead to the interior chamber of the Core, humming to the music as he pulled open the door and strode inside. He pocketed the Matter Singularity and began to unhook the Energy Singularity from the machine. The humming of the Core stopped short, as did the resonating feeling in the superhumans' chests.

Hyde skid to a stop on the catwalk, turned fast and charged again. His legs gave out halfway, drained of their energy at a snap of Stride's fingers, sending him tumbling head over heels into the inner chamber. Stride pocketed the beautiful, glowing, amber stone in his coat and strode out, chuckling as Hyde tried to stand on paralyzed legs.

Lanyon shouldered past Stride, running in to help Hyde to his feet, and behind him the door to the Singularity Chamber slammed shut with telekinetic power. Rising shakily to his feet, Hyde leaned heavily on the machinery that cluttered the chamber, watching his friend pound desperately at the door as the Core hummed to life around them.

Stride appeared outside of the chamber and smiled at them, holding up a small microphone. _"Sorry boys, but you know I can't let you live after all this. A shame really, I'd like to see what a second unhealthy dose of Ether energy does to a superhuman. Well, if you survive, do send me the notes._ " The mic clicked and he dropped it casually, leaving them in the chamber as the humming got louder and louder again around them.

~

Ninjabread was leading a stampede.

The sound of running footsteps was like thunder as they ran for the stairs, a superhuman mob that was more than a little angry. They made it up a single flight before shouts from below and a burst of gunfire broke out. Rachel stopped, motioning for the others to keep going, scrambling for a solution.

Someone else stopped too, "Ah Miss Pidgley, you seem at a loss for a solution. May I take a crack at payback?" Helsby's voice started pleasant enough, but shortly became bitter and petty. Rachel glanced at him, at the pipes on the walls, and then down at the coming assault before nodding firmly and turning on her heel.

A blur of shadow darted up the wall as Helsby, also known as Decompression, cracked his knuckles. He waved to the guards storming up the stairs before swiping his hand to the side, causing steam to explode from the pipes on the wall before he turned and ran. There were screams of pain as some of the guards were hit with the incredibly hot water, Helsby apologized under his breath, but didn't stop running.

Pipes continued to burst behind, water gushing onto the stairway.

As the Lodgers reached the ground floor, they were met with a number of armed individuals prepared to stop them. Someone shouted, warning everyone to close their eyes before an impossibly bright flash of light came from the bulbs overhead. The armed guards were stunned, giving the Lodgers another chance to run and fight.

It'd be easier just to imagine a motley crew of young, middle aged, and not-quite-old-yet adults running through empty concrete halls than try to relate it to some sort of fictional language. But they were successful in scaring anyone that got in their way as a second, larger explosion went off upstairs.

This one, thankfully, was in the street. This one was also the result of an expertly fired arrow carrying a very small explosive package flying into the engine of a heavy duty police car that had pulled up in front of Nova.

People were flocking out of the doorways like startled birds, a fire alarm had begun to ring as the first distraction started becoming less of a distraction and more of an actual threat. Sinnett was keeping the fire that had blossomed on the western wall of the building contained to a certain extent, but he wouldn't be able to forever, and somewhere along the way, someone had disabled the sprinkler system. Thankfully, this meant no one was stopping the crowd of questionable people that came running from the restricted area and made it to the street before anyone could even consider they were different.

On the other hand, this made Jasper's climb deeper into the Nova Center much more uncomfortable, as his sensitive nose was clogged with smoke. He'd taken the form of a cat at first, then given up on that because he was downright exhausted. So now he crawled along on hands and knees, getting more and more lost without the technopath to guide him. Comms had cut out after some massive feedback from someone's end blew the whole system to static.

Given the sounds of chaos outside, Jasper was willing to bet that the rest of the Lodgers were making it out. The Core had gone silent, but then resumed, had everything gone according to plan in the Core? Only one way to find out, and that meant getting out of these godforsaken metal tunnels before claustrophobia made him panic and get stuck.

So, he crawled a little faster, grumbling under his breath the whole while until a vent gave way underneath him and dropped him, butt first, onto the concrete floor of a maintenance hallway in his pastel orange leotard. Jasper's face got pink at the thought of being spotted, but that was quickly drowned by the new ache in his tailbone as he got to his feet.

The hum of the Core felt different now, a plastic sort of feeling, but nearby, really close! Jasper rubbed his behind with a frown and started jogging towards the hum, ignoring how fitted his outfit was for the mission at hand. He'd have to ask Lanyon for something a little less, cozy, he felt like a ballerina, and not in the good way! Ballerinas as least had strong musculature and lovely bodies to show off, he was just a kid in not-spandex with a moon on his chest.

That was nice at least, that Lanyon had added the silly little symbol that had been on Jasper's half made hero costume.

Jasper pushed through a plastic curtain and through a pair of heavy metal doors, eyes going wide as the Core appeared before him. He gasped, hands flying to cover his mouth, it was still running! And there was no sign of Hyde or Tailor, and was that Morcant? Was she dead?

He ran to her side and checked her pulse, immediately relieved to find it steady, if a bit faint. Her wolflike ears and teeth had vanished, as had the Matter singularity, and the thought of that in the hands of a stranger sent Jasper's mind reeling with frightful scenarios. He stood, frantically searching for a sign of his friends, his team, and the glint of light off a reflective surface caught his eye near the metal stairs to the catwalks.

The shattered mirror lense from Hyde's mask sat in three pieces, as if it'd been stepped on by someone trying to get up the stairs. Over the hum of the Core, there was the sound of a pounding something on metal, erratic, sometimes faint and weak, sometimes panicked and loud. Like, someone in trouble!

The catwalk creaked and echoed as Jasper sprinted up the steps two at a time, skidding to a stop in front of the door to the center of the Core, just in time to see a hand slip behind it. Someone was in there with the swirling energy, they were going to die if they were exposed to much more, just like the Detonation!

Jasper looked around frantically for something to bash the door down with before an idea came to him. He took a steadying breath, focusing on the hum in his exhausted bones and charged. The second before he slammed into the door, his form swelled and a very large gorilla threw its entire weight into the heavy metal door. Once, twice, three times before something snapped and an alarm began to blare.

_Singularity chamber breach detected, deactivating reserve power to prevent Ether leak._

The machine began to power down and Jasper grabbed the door, pulling with all the strength he could muster until the frame bent and it swung open. Everything went silent and a blast of hot air threw Jasper back, his animal form shrinking back to his preferred shape as he landed on his back, the wind knocked out of him again. The Core stood there silently now, a monolith of human greed, the faint sounds of groaning coming from within.

Jasper scrambled to his feet, gasping for air as he ran for the door, looking frantically for who'd been inside. What he discovered made the contents of his stomach turn uncomfortably, it was a sight that should not have existed in any ordinary scenario.

But they were superheroes, and this life was far from ordinary.

Hyde looked like melted chocolate, his hair shock white, a faint glow coming from both of his eyes, now a matching teal as opposed to the heterochromia that had been present before, lying weakly against the wall of the chamber, breathing phlegmy and slow. Lanyon leaned heavily on the machinery beside the open door, smiling weakly and happily as cool air washes in, strange patches of purple covering his neck and parts of his hands, hinting at even more beneath his fancy coat. His eyes looked like a cat's, but only for a moment.

He slid to the ground, staring at Jasper, "You stopped it."

"I couldn't just leave someone in here," Jasper answered numbly, blinking. He shook it off and knelt, taking Lanyon on his shoulder and lifting him to his feet, getting him out of the singularity chamber and somewhere cooler. Already, the strange purple patches began to fade, leaving behind even more freckles and small dark marks on the skin. In all honesty, Jasper would've loved to stay and watch the marks change, but it seemed disrespectful to leave Jekyll in the chamber, melting.

So he returned and picked up the floppy Hyde onto his feet, shuddering at how squishy the normally boney man felt to the touch. But he too was already solidifying, the glow fading from his half open eyes, the left eye returning to its ordinary, vermillion hue. His head flopped on his neck, turning to look tiredly at Jasper, "You, you look like a proper werewolf Jasper boy."

"Pardon?" he asked, voice getting squeaky and alarmed as he realized he'd partially shifted into a wolf at some point. No doubt he did look like a werewolf, a fluffy one with perky ears and a bushy tail. (When had he gotten a tail?)

Hyde chuckled weakly, rubbing his solidifying face, "You look like a werewolf! Well, more like a wolflet I guess, a puppy or something." He pulled himself from Jasper's arms, standing unsteadily and going to the edge of the catwalk, looking down to where Morcant lay unconscious on the floor still. "We gotta, we gotta catch Stride. We gotta tell Archer, don' let him leave the building."

"We can't, something made comms go out about four minutes ago!" Jasper said, staring at his own snout with a peculiar expression.

"Well we can't let him get away!" Hyde protested, strength returning to his voice and body with each moment. Lanyon too was regaining his strength, and he stood slowly. "We can't follow him, not when he's got both of those stones to attack with-"

"FREEZE!" ordered a voice. The three slowly turned to see Lucy, at the stop of the stairs, stolen pistol raised at them. She glared, "Hyde."

"Lucy," he countered with a grin. "Listen, would love to stay and banter but right now Simon Stride is on the run with two incredibly powerful items and-"

"Like the stone he told me to wear?" she asked, relaxing slightly, brows furrowed. Hyde nodded eagerly, "Yes! That one belonged to you and it's safe but he has Emma's and the one belonging to that woman down there."

"Morcant?" Lucy blinked, seemingly surprised that she'd known that, and even more surprised when Hyde agreed. He started for the stairs and again she stopped him with the pistol, "You're not screwing with me, are you Hyde?"

"You know he's not, that's why you're asking him," Lanyon said suddenly, tilting his head slightly. "You remembered something, didn't you? Something that you forgot?"

"How the hell did _you_ know _that_?" Lucy snapped, turning the gun on him and making Lanyon wave his hands in fear. "Whatever it was, we don't have time to be fighting about this Miss Harris! Please! We just-"

"LUCY!" All eyes turned to below where Emma was dragging Morcant into a sitting position against the computers. "I remember her! I remember the stones! We need to go after Stride like they're saying, if he's got the Heart of the Core and Morcant's stone, he'll be able to find the one you wore!"

"What's so special about these bloody stones!?" Lucy demanded, turning to call down to her girlfriend and ignoring the men behind her as they began to inch towards the stairs, eager to go after Stride before he could escape.

"One of them gave you teleporting powers and the other powered the Core! I can't bloody remember what Morcant's did or what the fourth one was supposed to do but Lucy put it together!" Lucy, despite her limp, raced down the stairs and stopped in front of Emma, holstering her pistol. "You mean to tell me, that the three of us had magic stones."

"I'm saying I did, I'm saying she did, and you're remembering that you did too!" Emma exclaimed, grabbing Lucy's shoulders. She faltered, "But, how are we supposed to get them back if Stride has them and he took out not only Hyde but, Tailor and, uh..." She looked over at the three sneaking towards the door and said: "I uh, and uh, the werewolf guy. He managed to take them all out!"

"Well to be fair, he drained our super powers and then used Morcant's stone to throw us around like rag dolls," Hyde butted in, only to get elbowed by Lanyon. Jasper just looked mildly embarrassed.

Emma blinked, frowning darkly, "I, remember that."

"Wait wait, he did this to you then?" Lucy asked, gently taking Emma's face to look at her. "You remember him taking your stone? And your memories?"

"I, I'm starting to, I think something changed," she stammered, holding her head. Lucy scowled, "I'm gonna make that pale twink pay for this. I don't care what he did to me beyond using me but he's gonna pay for hurting you!"

"Wait, Miss Harris, you're probably our best bet to fight him!" Lanyon said suddenly, stepping forward with a smile. "You've no powers, not without your stone which _we_ have safely stored. You can get revenge, and he can't disable you as easily! Plus you're armed and I can-" as he reached for her to try and heal her, she grabbed his wrist and glared. He smiled awkwardly again, "I, I can heal your knife wounds."

She released his hand and let him touch her shoulder, the ache vanishing from her leg and shoulder with rapidity that surprised her and Lanyon. Lucy rolled her arm and nodded, "Alright, we follow him, and I'll _make_ him give back those Singularities."

"But first you'll have to find him," Emma said, going to the computers. Everyone watched as she logged in and pulled up system reports and info. A beat passed and she said: "He's called a helicopter, a bloody helicopter."

"To the roof then!" Lucy declared, grabbing Emma's hand and running off, not even bothering to ask the boys for backup. Hyde facepalmed, hard, and gave chase. "You two carry Morcant! I'm going to make sure they don't get themselves killed!"

"Hyde wh-" but he was gone.

Lanyon frowned and one of Jasper's wolfish ears twitched in irritation.

"Is he, always like this?" Jasper asked in a deadpan voice.

"He's worse right now, but I don't blame him," Lanyon answered, scowling.

~

On the street, everyone was staring in confusion at the top of the Nova Corp. building. Smoke was billowing from the side of the building where a fire was slowly growing in ferocity, left to rage after Sinnett collapsed from exhaustion and had to be carried away. No one paid much attention to the curiously less-than-professional looking individuals fleeing the scene, especially not with a petite helicopter touching down on top of the building.

The blades slowed, rotating much slower and whipping up only the most mild of winds as the pilot stepped out and looked around for who she was supposed to pick up. A door opened on the other side of the roof and a suited gentleman jogged out, carrying a heavy looking metal briefcase in one hand. He waved to the pilot and she called: "Mr. Simon Stride? Sir, I'm not supposed to fly in civilian airspace an-"

"It's an emergency! I need to be across town faster than traffic will allow and your copter is the only way," he said in return over the _thwip thwip thwip_ of the helicopter blades.

"Sir I don't think Mr. Utterson's personal helicopter is exactly fit for an extraction!"

"This case contains top secret information, copter is the most secure transport for it!" Stride barked, scowling.

A bullet whizzed past them and ricocheted off the open door of the helicopter, leaving a silver scar in the paint. Stride turned fast, his grip on the briefcase containing the Singularities tightened and heart racing in fear. Lucy stood maybe fifteen feet away, pistol raised, a scowl painting her dark features. A similar expression crossed Stride's face, "Miss Harris, you've returned to antagonize me."

"And I brought help," she growled. Emma and Hyde stepped up beside her, and Stride's face went even more pale than it already was. His mouth flapped like a fish, why was Emma here? Of all people why _her?_

"Emma I can explain-"

"You've been _explaining_ for four years too long Simon," Emma declared, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "It's _your fault_ Lucy and I are like this you bloody greedy crook!"

Stride's hurt expression became bitter and angry, some sort of green light flared behind his eyes. He slowly started to reach for the case, "To think, I'd loved you Emma, I gave everything to-"

Another bullet struck the case and knocked it out of his hand, making him shriek in fear like a cowardly little boy. Lucy's gaze and her hands were steady, the pistol now leveled at Stride's chest. The helicopter began to power down, the curious pilot watching the exchange from her cockpit.

Slowly, Stride raised his hands in surrender, wearing a glare that would have ignited a candle if he'd had pyrokinetic abilities. Lucy nodded her head at Hyde and he darted forward, snatching the case and jumping back before Stride even had an opportunity to reach for him. He stuck his tongue out at Stride and went back to Emma and Lucy, popping it open to show the beautiful gems inside.

"So that's it then?" Hyde snapped the case shut and turned to glare at Stride, whose hands began to lower. "You're going to steal a source of unlimited energy because some useless lesbians got amnesia?"

"No we're taking them back because you were never supposed to have these stones," snapped Lucy.

"And because you tried to bloody kill us?" Emma added, sounding incredulous and offended.

"And! And and and because you told _me_ you literally want to be a supervillain so I automatically don't trust everything you say!" Hyde concluded with a self-righteous nod. He handed Emma the case, "One of these belongs to you."

"We're finished here anyway," Lucy snapped, holstering the gun in her waistline with the safety on. Emma clutched the case to her chest, wanting to take the stone inside out and hold it, but not daring to with Stride anywhere near her.

The trio started back towards the stairs they'd come from and Stride shouted: "You'll all be criminals for this! I'll see you hanged for your thievery Hyde! I'll have Robert arrested for aiding in a crime!"

"And I'll make sure the world knows how you put me and Tailor in the Core to melt," Hyde snapped back, turning to glare at Stride again. "You want to talk to me about morality? It's your fault my friend Henry nearly died in the Detonation all that time ago you realize. The Detonation was your _bloody fault._ We're done here."

Stride watched helplessly as they went back downstairs, unsure what to do. He looked to the pilot, who shrugged. "Don't look at me, you can't get a ride here, and I'm with the nerds in Spandex."

 


	12. Honesty Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pieces fall into place, friends are reunited, and some incredibly satisfying poetic justice is dealt in a powerful punch.

At the bottom of the stairs that lead to the roof, Lanyon and a less wolfy Jasper were waiting. The snout was gone, but Jasper still had hair that was far too fluffy, twitching ears, and a tail curled up behind him. Lanyon sat on the bottom steps, eyes fluttering shut every few seconds as exhaustion began to weigh in on him. At their feet, wearing Tailor's coat like a blanket, was the still unconscious Morcant with a bit more color in her cheeks, breathing softly.

The sound of footsteps overhead made Jasper and Lanyon suddenly more alert, looking up worriedly and then breaking into smiles as their friends jogged down the stairs. Emma went straight to Morcant's side, popping open the case and pulling out the blue gem. It hummed pleasantly in her hands, in almost a friendly way, like recognizing an old friend.

A few memories came back to her, not the rushing flashback you see in movies, but little gentle reminders. Her name was Emily Lisa Carew, she was thirty as of last year, Lucy had been her girlfriend for eight years now, and Morcant was one of their closest friends. Other things, like favorite ice cream and music came back as she placed the blue gem in the open space in Morcant's costume and it flashed a bright blue.

The unconscious woman woke up with a start, sitting bolt upright, eyes wide as if she'd been electrocuted. Her breathing was heavy and there were shadows under her eyes, but those same eyes showed familiarity and relief to see herself surrounded by friends. Slowly, she relaxed, looking around in confusion and relief, slowly starting to smile. She looked to Emma, and up at Lucy, "Emma, Sabrina, do you-"

"That's my real name then?" Lucy asked, kneeling beside Morcant as well, head tilted slightly. Morcant blinked and nodded, smiling a little, "It is, but you wanted to be called Lucy, trying to hide your secret identity and all that."

"That's why I wanted to be called Emma instead of Emily," Emma said fondly, remembering with a smile.

There was a humming noise and they looked towards the open briefcase, at the amber stone within. Emma swallowed hard, "The last time I touched that, I blacked out."

"I can help you, only if you will allow me," Morcant said, shrugging off Tailor's coat and folding it up. Emma looked at the stone, at the familiar face before her that was just barely remembered, and nodded. Morcant picked up the gem and it hummed louder, as if it knew that it were going to return to where it belonged.

Using her powers, she made it float, and gently placed it over Emma's chest.

A blinding golden flash, far brighter than the gentle blue that had been Morcant's stone, filled the room and made everyone look away. But when it finally faded, leaving technicolored spots in the eyes of onlookers, a hole had been burned through Emma's blouse. But the Energy Singularity had returned to its rightful place and Emma's eyes sparkled with a new, golden light.

But instead of laughing or smiling, tears bubbled in her eyes.

"Oh God, Morcant I'm so sorry!" She threw herself into the arms of her friend, "You were right! All that time ago, about sharing this with the world you were right! I just wanted to help and I got Lucy _and_ myself in so much trouble because I didn't listen to you!"

Morcant squeezed her, "It's okay Emma! Thai and I forgive you, it's okay! You're back, Lucy will be back soon, and then we will find Thai and be a team again. You're okay."

Lucy lowered her eyes, as if ashamed, but she was trying to hide the sudden, burning envy in her chest. Until Morcant reached out and pulled her close too. The fractions of memories began to come together, and she remembered laughing over drinks with Morcant and a small girl in green, fighting back to back in flashes of fire and light. She remembered moments where similar envy had burned, but in those moments Morcant had proven herself, she wasn't trying to steal Emma, she was just incredibly happy to see her friends again.

The envy melted and was replaced by happiness, Lucy hugged the other two and laughed, soon they were all laughing with happy tears. Emma kissed her girlfriend, Morcant gave Lucy a big-sister noogie for old times, and they laughed.

Hyde elbowed Lanyon, "Now why can't we be like that?"

"Because you're a bloody idiot sometimes," Lanyon countered, folding his arms and smiling smugly at Hyde. "Speaking of which-" he turned to Jasper, "Cadet, that was really stupid of you, breaking into the Core like that. What if it had detonated?"

"I, Pennebrygg told me it'd switched to reserve power," he said, ears folding back sheepishly as he hunched his shoulders and folded his arms. "I figured, reserve power meant something was already wrong, it was less power or something. And, I couldn't just leave you in there! Well, I couldn't leave _anyone_ in there, but you too specifically."

"You put the whole building at risk, to save us?" asked Hyde, blinking in surprise.

"That was rather stupid I'd say, one should always err on the decision that saves more lives in my opinion," Lanyon stated, waving a finger in the air. Jasper wilted, "I just wanted to help."

To his surprise, Hyde stepped forward and hugged him, "I'm bloody glad you did! I'd be a puddle of goop if it weren't for you!" Jasper stiffened at first, then returned the hug, chuckling awkwardly.

"Wh-well, I uh, I mean-" Hyde stepped back and cut him off with a motion, smiling proudly. "You did good today Jasper. Really good. Sure, you've still got training to do, but I think you've proven you're ready to start taking missions once we get back. But you know what that means?"

"What does it mean? Sir?" he asked awkwardly, fidgeting his hands and staring at Hyde with a mix of intimidation and curiosity.

"Why, you've got to pick a hero name!" Hyde declared. He nudged Lanyon, "I was thinking Moonwalker, a play on skinwalker and the whole wolf gimmick."

"To on-the-nose," Lanyon answered, brushing the name off. "Beast Boy is copyright, and Jasper is certainly not a boy, it needs to be more refined."

"What about Gaelach?" suggested a voice. The boys turned to see Lucy helping Emma to her feet and Morcant walking over to them. She smirked at their confused looks, "It means Moon in Gaelic, which I studied in college."

"You went to college?" asked Lanyon, sounding utterly shocked. Morcant laughed outright, "Yep! Though, nothing nearly as refined as a doctor. Legends and mythologies mostly."

"Fitting."

"So is Gaelach, I think," Jasper said, standing a little straighter and smiling a bit more. "I like it."

"Okay the cadet graduation ceremony is great and all, but I feel the need to remind you all that it's very likely the police are on their way to arrest all of us for blowing up part of Nova," Lucy said, sounding more annoyed than panicked or frantic. "Not to mention, half the building is on fire."

Emma grinned and offered her hand to Morcant, "Shall we my friend?"

"We shall." Morcant took the hand and gave it a friendly squeeze before looking around them. "Hold onto your lunches everyone, the forecast says it'll be a little cloudy today."

Before anyone could ponder her witty one liner, they all dissolved into watery mist with a flash of gold and blue light. The energy of Emma's stone giving Morcant the power she needed to change everyone's shape and guide them up the stairs, outside, and over to the roof where Archer and Pennebrygg were watching the congregation of police and fireman, waiting for a signal. Imagine their surprise and slight horror when six familiar individuals appeared out of thin air in the middle of the roof behind them.

Needless to say, they were more than a little shocked, but then again so were the people who'd just appeared. Lanyon swooned, leaning heavily in Hyde's arms, Jasper had to sit down and Lucy was clearly dizzy. Emma and Morcant on the other hand, shared a perfect highfive and a pleasant laugh, it felt good to be a team again.

Hyde stood straighter, helping Robert stay on his feet. "Maybe, maybe we should head back to my place, get Lucy her stone back and rest up."

"I've uh, checked with Rachel and Griffin, everyone made it out okay in the panic," Pennebrygg said, blinking and staring at the women in awe, utterly impressed by their display of ability. "And, Luckett texted me, they're okay, you guys were the only ones left."

"I was ready to go in and find you," Archer said in almost a defensive voice, as if he were trying to cover up for the fact that he definitely would _not_ have run into the building currently half consumed by fire. Hyde rolled his eyes, "Whatever. You guys are dismissed, we'll meet everyone at the Bistro in two nights and debrief. Everyone who needs somewhere to stay can crash at my place tonight, but don't come by till then."

"Sure thing Hyde."

"You got it."

~

They wandered a few blocks on over rooftops and managed to catch a cab that was willing to drive three superheros, two women and a furry downtown. The driver had lots of questions, and Lanyon was more than happy to answer most them. Of course, he asked everyone to shush as the radio turned to news about what happened at Nova.

There was no doubt about it, the Infamous Hyde had definitely been spotted at the building on video after the fires had been put out. However, when the Core had been switched to reserve power, many of the cameras lost power, but the Super Gorilla who broke into the Core seemed to be a topic going viral. Unfortunate how shutting down the Core shut down the building's power for the most part.

Luckily the city's power grid had switched on, returning power for the local blocks that had been connected to the Core. All the power switching had left the security system down, thankfully, no one was on camera.

As well as listening to the radio, Morcant and Jasper had a chat about shapeshifting and seemed to share similar grievances concerning the whole "coughing up feathers" thing that seemed to follow turning into a bird. Hyde and Lucy got on like a wildfire, cracking stupid jokes about Stride and how he looked like a bad version of Marvel's Loki with an even worse plotline.

"Though, I suppose some men just want to watch the world burn," Lucy remarked with a chuckle.

"I should introduce him to Luckett, now there's a guy who can _make_ the world burn," Hyde joked with a laugh. He paused, "He wouldn't do that though, he's a nice guy."

"Listen, Hyde, you said you're friends with Jekyll, do you think I could speak to him soon?" Emma asked, leaning forward in her seat to look over at him. Hyde blinked and laughed awkwardly, "Ah ha, you see, well, um, it's complicated." He pointed at the driver then at his ear, implying it wasn't something to be discussed where prying ears were present.

Emma frowned a little, considering, and then an idea occurred to her. "Would you say that you two are, close? Known each other for a long time? Partners in crime kind of thing?"

"Yeah kind of?" Hyde countered frowning a little and raising a brow curiously. Emma glanced at the driver and continued, "Well, tell him I'm sorry for what I've said about the Society. I always thought, if you guys really wanted to help, you should find a way to help me and Lucy. But I realize now that was really _bloody entitled_ of me."

The sincerity in her voice, the hurt look on her face, it wasn't a message to be passed on, it was a genuine apology right in that moment. She'd figured it out! Hyde grinned a little, impressed at her cleverness and touched by her honesty. "Well, I'll let him know you said that, and I'm sure he'll be glad to know there were never really any hard feelings. Besides, if one person uses superpowers for evil, it's easy to generalize. And everyone has moments of selfish intentions, as far as I'm concerned, you're forgiven."

Soon after, they arrived at the building Jekyll lived in and unfolded from the inside of the small cab like a bad circus troupe. Lanyon paid the driver, who promised everything they'd heard would not leave the cab, a little extra for their trouble and everyone signed a CD case they owned. Lucy let Hyde borrow her jacket and hide his face behind the collar as they walked inside, taking the elevator up to the top floors and walking together with Hyde leading the way.

Jasper lagged behind the group a little, feeling out of place in the banter and chatter between people who already seemed to be friends. And then there was him, the new guy, the outcast among outcasts.

As Hyde unlocked his apartment, he happened to glance back and see Jasper standing morosely behind the group. Everyone else wandered in and he went back to Jasper, "Hey, Kaylock, what's the matter? Be proud! Your plan worked brilliantly!"

"Yeah I guess it did," he said, chuckling a little and shrugging. The tail had vanished, but the wolfish ears remained, and they were folded back in a way that spoke melancholy. Hyde frowned, "What's wrong dude? Are you hurt? Worried? C'mon, talk to me."

"I'm just, I'm not _one of you guys_ , if you know what I mean," Jasper answered, rubbing his arm. "I feel, out of place."

"Well that's just because you're new." Hyde looped an arm around Jasper's shoulder and lead him into the penthouse, "Trust me, from what I've heard, the rest of the Society thinks you're great and can't wait to get to work, with some exceptions of course but those _always_ exist."

"I guess, thanks."

"Not a problem!" Hyde laughed as they rejoined everyone else inside.

The women continued to chat about the past off to the side, but Lanyon looked worried. He glanced at Hyde and Jasper, "We left Mosley, Lavender, and Flowers here didn't we?"

"Yeah, and they didn't tell Pennebrygg they were going anywhere," Jasper said, frowning worriedly. "I made sure Lavender knew to report if anyone came or went, and Flowers seemed responsible enough."

"Something's wrong then." The comment was sudden and serious, the kind of tone that derails a conversation completely and makes others stare.

Hyde turned and ran, this was his home, he'd be damned if his friends ended up dead in it. This left everyone mildly stunned and Lucy was the first to follow, the first to jump back into the fray. Hyde went straight to the lab, the other rooms could wait but there were dangerous things in there!

And when he threw open the door, he found that's where their friends and Stride were. He'd drained them of their powers, that much was clear, because Flowers was happily sleeping on top of a snoring Mosley on the floor while Lavender sat there, cross-legged and glaring at stride. Somewhere along the way he'd gotten a gun, and now held it to her head.

Hyde arrived just in time to hear him shout: "Where is it!?"

"Seriously Stride?" Hyde snapped, glancing over his shoulder as Lucy came to a stop behind. "You're _that_ obsessed with this?"

"I won't be beaten by a midget in green spandex!" he shouted, turning and sending a half-insane glare at Hyde. From somewhere far behind, Lanyon shouted: "IT ISN'T SPANDEX!!!"

Stride's grip on the gun visibly tightened, "You freaks tell me where the Space Singularity is or I'll blow her head off." Hyde and Lucy shared a look, then both raised their eyebrows skeptically at him. His face became beet red, "I'll do it! I will!"

"How will you do that without a gun?" Hyde asked, tapping his chin in thought. Before Stride could respond there was a snap, the gun in his hand was some sort of grainy black ash and fell to the ground. He staggered back, gasping in horror and looking to them as Morcant joined them in the doorway. "This guy again? Really? Honestly can't you be like other villains and run off after getting defeated?"

"I am _not_ defeated!" Stride protested, only for his face to go pale white when Lucy stormed up to him, glaring with the power to break glass. She tapped his nose and made him twitch, "Not defeated huh? Here, I'll help you figure it out."

No answer from him, just a glare.

And before he _could_ answer, she pulled back and punched as hard as she could, driving her fist into his face at full force. Stride spun like a top and collapsed, falling barely a foot from Lavender who was more than happy to scramble out of the way. Lucy flexed her hand, watching Stride drag himself back to his feet, clutching his nose and trying to staunch the already heavy blood flow.

Another swing from the opposite side and a swift kick in the gut as he fell and Lucy stepped back to catch her breath.

"The bloody hell was that all for?" Stride wheezed from the ground, voice nasally and a little gloopy because of the blood in his sinuses.

"The first one was for how you lied to Emma and I," Lucy snapped, crouching slowly and looking at him with her head tilted, a tiny frown on her lips. "The second and third were for being a psychopath and calling me a useless lesbian. Only Emma can say that about me you prick. Oi Hyde! Got any fancy handcuffs in here?"

He grinned, "Well that depends." He strode over and threw open a cabinet, "Which would you prefer? Extra strength? Or Amnesiac?" A pair of cuffs jingled on both hands, one thick and made of some heavy metal, the other thin and laced with blue wires.

"Amnesiac," she answered.

"Kinky." Hyde tossed her the cuffs and watched her click them onto the wrists off the horrified Stride. He passed Lucy a switch, "Click that blue button, he'll forget the last twenty four hours in a blink. Red button will knock him out."

"Gosh it's almost like you're a scientist," Lucy said, standing and dragging the bleeding Stride with her. "Almost like, you're a doctor or something."

Stride's eyes went wide and Lucy clicked the red button, practically dipping him as he collapsed, and then dropping him unceremoniously on the tile. Hyde frowned and poked a spot of blood with his boot, "This is going to be hell to clean up, Poole you awake?"

The room came alive with lights and a voice answered: _"Of course sir. I muted myself after Mr. Stride entered, and I could not contact you or your associates with all the traffic on-_ "

"Yeah yeah okay, can you google how to clean blood off of tile?"

 _"Of course sir. And, the Space Singularity is still where you left it Miss Lavender._ "

"Where'd she leave it?" asked Morcant, Lucy, and Hyde all at once. They broke out in laughter and Lavender rolled her eyes, "You're lucky your computer is so bloody smart. But it's right over here."

She walked to Jekyll's desk and picked up a book, flipping it open to reveal the space inside where a beautiful red gem was resting. Lavender handed the box to Lucy, "This is yours, and frankly I'm done with superhero business for today."

With a bit of help from Hyde, Lavender woke her unconscious friends and helped Hyde carry the drugged Stride from the room. They passed Emma, who was heading in and greeted them with a hello, and the door shut behind her and Morcant. A red flash could be seen behind the frosted glass and then happy shouting and conversation.

There was little fanfare as Hyde told the tired Mosley and Flowers what had happened before sending them off with Lavender and Jasper to head home, or out, and gather their strength for a few hours before coming back. Jasper, thankfully, managed to find where he'd left his clothes at Jekyll's apartment, and with one last goodbye, his wolfish ears vanished and he was ordinary Jasper again. (Though his eyes still glinted yellow in certain lights)

With the four of them gone, three guests chatting in the lab, Lanyon and Hyde dropped on the couch with twin sighs of exhaustion.

Robert was the first to speak after a long, half-asleep moment.

"So, is there a reason you've stayed Hyde since we got thrown in the chamber?" he asked, tiredly rolling his head to look at Hyde, whose eyes were closed in mock-sleep. "Or is it because you didn't want to risk exposing yourself?"

"I'm stuck," was the answer, tired, and almost numb in tone. Robert sat up a little, "You're, stuck? As in, you can't change back?"

"Yup," he mumbled, sighing heavily and yawning. "I don't know if it's because I'm tired, if Stride screwed me over, or that second dose of Ether stuff rearranged my already confusing powers." Hyde flailed his hands vaguely as if making some sort of gesture, "I don't, bloody know."

"If you're permanently stuck that means you'll have to replace yourself, that alone will drum up a hell of a controversy," Lanyon said, his tone of voice changing to one of supreme anxiety. Before he could continue, Hyde reached out and pressed a finger over his lips, shushing dramatically. "Lanyon, before we worry about rearranging my existence, give me a day or two to recover from nearly dying three different ways okay?"

Lanyon frowned behind the finger, but respected it and stayed quiet until it was removed, "You're awfully sarcastic right now."

"So sue me, I'm tired and facing the possibility of being stuck as my alter-ego cut off from my actual life forever," he said, looking at Lanyon with a frown and lidded eyes.

"Stuck as what now?" asked a perky voice. The two looked up to see Lucy, Emma, and Morcant walk in together, all wearing warm smiles and necklaces with... very large gem-like charms on them. They were dressed in civilian clothes too, Emma's blouse having been repaired and Morcant's blue leotard exchanged for jeans and a tanktop.

Lucy nudged the unconscious Stride with her shoe, "How long is this prick going to be out?"

"An hour or two," Hyde said, standing and dusting him off. "I'd drop him off at the Nova Center but frankly I want to pass out."

"I can handle dropping him off," Lucy said with a grin. She pressed the blue-amnesia button on the switch Hyde had given her and tossed him the remote, "I've got the Space Singularity after all. I can just-" she snapped her fingers and the unconscious man vanished- "send him over."

"Convenient," Lanyon mumbled, sounding a little bitter. Hyde nudged him, "Hey, be glad we have powers and that we're alive after all that. Though, probably irreversibly stuck as my alter ego, but alive!"

"You believe you're stuck? I can help," Morcant offered, walking up to him. Hyde smiled, standing to meet her with a cocky smile, "Thanks Morcant, but I don't think this is something you can fix with a little magi-" she cut him off by bending over and kissing him.

It was out of the blue and left everyone in the room in a similar state of utter shock, but most of all Hyde, whose eyes went wide as dinner plates. Before them, he slowly returned to his normal state, his hair darkening, his body becoming more lean and tall, eyes falling closed. When Morcant pulled back, she didn't have to lean over as much, and Jekyll was left standing there a moment, looking like he was floating.

His eyes fluttered open and a blush colored his face pink. Morcant laughed at his expression, "Why, you'd think you'd never kissed a girl before. And whoever said anything about a _little_ magic? It's all or nothing with us."

"I, I noticed that," he stammered, blinking in shock. Lanyon had to cover his eyes, both embarrassed and laughing for his friend.

Morcant pat his shoulder with a knowing smile and turned, walking back over to her friends who stood, hand in hand, watching with childish grins and occasionaly giggles. "Well ladies, I think we ought to go find Thai, whenever she's popped off to this time."

"You're just going to go?" asked Lanyon, standing and staring at them.

"No reason for us to stick around really," Emma remarked, leaning against Lucy. "We appreciate your guys' help, but we've got to find Thai, tell her we're okay."

"But we'll be around," Morcant said, grinning. "After all, superheros bring supervillains." She bowed and motioned with her hand, "Lucy, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all Morcant," she answered, snapping again.

There was a sound like a massive zipper and a door opened in the space before the door, looking like a doorway into darkness speckled with stars. The girls bid their farewells and walked through the opening, only for it to zip shut behind them and leave the two scientists in stunned silence.

Jekyll reached up and touched his cheek, "She kissed me..."

"They can use wormholes," Lanyon said, eyes wide and mouth open slightly. He looked at Jekyll, pointing both hands at the space where the girls had vanished. "They can _teleport_ Henry."

"Isn't it fascinating?" he asked, sounding distracted.

"Damnit Henry, she can teleport!" The only response was a weak sigh as he sank back onto the couch, utterly lovestruck. Robert rolled his eyes so hard it was a wonder they didn't tumble out his ears as he dropped onto the couch again.

They both jumped as a phonecall began to ring over the intercom and Poole spoke up. _"Sirs, Mr. Utterson is calling, it seems to concern your appearances at the Nova Energy Center preceding the explosion. He seems, impatient."_

"Put him on," Jekyll said distractedly. "We need to schedule a press conference with nova anyway, lots of things to discuss after all."

 

 


	13. Pizza and Press

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just what it says on the tin, though not necessarily in that order.  
> A new challenger appears.

To say that the events at Nova went viral was an overstatement. A science facility known for an explosion blew up, this time with fire, no one was really surprised or excited by it because it didn't involve a wave of magic colorful energy that turned people into superhumans. However, a _second_ Nova Press Conference featuring Doctors Jekyll and Lanyon in less than a week following an attack like that drummed up a lot of excitement.

People were buzzing like flies, attracted to the biggest piles of feces they could find with a little bit of glittery makeup on. It was irritating sure, but the easiest way to tell everyone what the hell had happened.

Of course, Nova had the floor first, and Gabriel had spoken with Jekyll and Lanyon at length before the reporters had begun to file in. They were at the Nova Energy Center again, but in the slightly singed lobby where a bunch of folding chairs had been set up. A podium and portable speakers had been set up against one wall, behind them, Stride was sitting there alone with his head in his hands.

They'd found him near where the fire had been, passed out from smoke inhalation, and when he'd finally woken up he couldn't remember anything, including why his face had been bashed in. No one knew where Emma Carew was, her files had been completely wiped from the system, as had all of the ones involving superhumans and security footage of the last twenty-four hours. The best part, no one could figure out how or why all the data was gone!

Just incredible what technology these days is capable of in the wrong hands.

As the actual press conference began, most of the questions leaned towards what had happened to the Core? Utterson confessed that the Nova Core had been a new kind of radiation, and that in the chaos of the day before, its source had been stolen. Rest assured though, it couldn't cause damage without the machine and currently Nova was the only company in possession of the plans to make a machine that could utilize it.

And after today, after learning about recent irresponsible developments within Nova, they were going in a completely new direction of clean energy. Stride was glaring the entire time, clearly fed up his plan either hadn't work or had been swept out from under him.

If only he could _remember!_

When Utterson was finished explaining the new Nova business plan he said: "And now, my good friend Henry Jekyll has something important to say concerning the superhuman events yesterday."

The reporters all started talking at once as he stepped up on the podium with a word of thanks to his friend. When he tapped the mic, they calmed and took their seats again.

"Last time I was up in front of you, I kept arguing with Miss Carew about the Core and the Superhumans," he said, smiling fondly at the memory. "But uh, it's clear that's changed at this point. So, I'm just going to be frank with all of you." He glanced over at Lanyon, who gave him an encouraging thumbs up.

The Society was going to come under heavy fire and questioning as a result of, well, everything soon, they needed their spearhead to be someone the people trusted. And that meant, fessing up.

"I'm sure you've all heard of the Society for Arcane Heroes at this point, from rumor, from the news and various leads, from word left behind by their heroes," he began. "Well, I can confirm, it is real and I'm-" here he hesitated, debating on which truth to tell them, "And I'm one of the men in charge of it."

The words must have been electrically charged, because everyone jumped up out of their seat, demanding to be answered. Lanyon facepalmed over to the right, that wasn't supposed to be the confession!

"What's Inviso-Bill's real name?"

"What can you tell us about Ninjabread?"

"Does Steam Engine have prosthesis?"

Jekyll couldn't help but chuckle at their enthusiasm before leaning into the mic and saying: "Vanish, she's one hell of a fighter, and yes he has prosthesis, custom built. But, I can't answer much more I'm afraid." They started shouting questions louder, as if that could change the fact that he'd sworn to keep their secrets.

But now they knew, and he'd have a hell of a time trying to explain everything. Frankly though, he didn't have the time for answering these questions, he had a date with the Lodgers and a pizza.

~

Edward Hyde walked into the Lion's Mane Bistro and Tavern wearing a jean jacket, a truly pathetic looking ponytail, jeans, and sunglasses, two hours after sunset. There were pins and cool patches that made the coat look more interesting than it really was, most of them being nerdy pins and superhero symbols. When he pushed through the door, the bell overhead jingling, there was a raucous cheer from a large group of people hogging the back half of the restaurant.

One of them, a man with owlish hair and round glasses raised his pint, "Well would you look who decided to show up! Tell us Eddie, where's the _esteemed Doctor_ at? He's late!"

"Ah yes Helsby, and he gave me a specific message for you in particular," Hyde joked with a malicious smirk. "He wanted me to remind you that no one likes it when you fall asleep in the bloody pool!" There was a chorus of laughter and Helsby glared, grinning despite the banter.

Hyde strode over and sat at the table, his posture relaxed and casual. That was one of the wonderful things about having a secret identity with a secret identity, you could go out on the town and not a have to worry about anything.

"I saved you some pizza," said a voice, sliding a plate in his direction. Hyde looked up and over at Rachel, she offered him a friendly smile, then returned to her conversation with Jasper, who seemed to be smiling a lot more than usual. A grin tugged itself onto Hyde's face, those two looked on the way to becoming good friends, so he had made the right call pairing them up to work together.

He sat up more and started eating, glad to finally get some food in his system.

After a minute or two he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Okay you nerds, first and foremost, excellent work all of you. Even those of you who got caught, A plus for the brilliant fight you put up." There was a rallying cheer and someone passed him a fresh beer, "To victory yeah? And new friends!"

Another cheer and he took a swig of his glass before sitting back in his chair.

"Now, down to business! Everyone is reporting in tomorrow afternoon so we can fix up the club," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Mosley can do a lot but he can't do everything."

"Here here!" the usual-mask-wearer said, his face mask pulled down so he could eat and drink.

"I'd much appreciate it if everyone pitched in to get supplies, I'm not asking each of you to buy everything, but there's enough of us that we can all pitch in and make it work! But we'll discuss that tomorrow, tonight? We drink!" Another cheer, glasses raised and conversation picking up speed again.

Until a car did a triple front flip in the street before crashing right outside the bistro, followed by an explosion. Every superhuman present visibly stiffened, standing and looking towards the street in varying degrees of alarm, intrigue, and attack. Hyde was the first to react, running over and throwing open the door as another car crashed by.

A massive person made of metal, copper plates and shining steel covering the outside of it, under which heavy machinery could be heard chugging away, shot past the building, leaving craterous footprints in the asphalt. Atop its shoulders, a young person with long, light colored hair, goggles, and a filthy labcoat clung to its head, They glanced at Hyde in passing, but didn't slow their run.

Behind them the scream of an animal in pain echoed down the street followed by the scraping of claws and the beat of wings. Turning fast, Hyde could see what pursued them, amalgamate animals, fusions of dogs and birds, wolves with twitching wings that didn't belong, a bear running clumsily on the graceful legs of some sort of wildcat, all lead by a man wearing black from head to toe atop some horrifying pegasus. They ran past the bistro, again not faltering in their chase, intent on catching the automaton and its master.

Hyde looked back into the bistro and grinned a little, seeing his friends and fellow superhumans getting to their feet, looking ready for a fight. Even Jasper, whose timidity at times was incredible, looked ready to fight, if a bit worried and spooked. Hyde felt in his pocket, found his mask there, and grabbed an umbrella from a stand beside the door. "Let's show them how we do things _downtown!_ "

There was a rallying cry, and the Society of Arcane Heroes took to the street, a force to be reckoned with.

 


End file.
